Jannik Sinner continued his excellent form with a 6-2, 5-7, 6-4 victory over Hodger Rune to top the Blue Group of the 2023 ATP Finals. Novak Djokovic beat Hurkacz 7-6(1), 4-6, 6-1 and entered the semi-finals as second place in the group.
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| Novak Djokovic entered the semi-finals of the 2023 ATP Finals. (Source: AP) |
After losing to Sinner, Djokovic needed to avoid defeat against Hurkacz to ensure a semi-final spot. However, the Serbian won 2-1 after 2 hours and 5 minutes of play and lost the right to decide.
Hurkacz replaced Stefanos Tsitsipas, the Greek player who was injured in the match against Rune in the second round of the group stage and had to leave the tournament.
The Polish player had a very small chance of reaching the semi-finals but he was full of determination, the No. 9 seed fought fiercely despite having to face the world number one.
In the first set, the two players fought fiercely and did not lose any service games. In the tie-break, Hurkacz did not play well, losing points on all four of his serves, allowing Djokovic to win quickly 7-1.
After chasing in the early stages of the second set, Hurkacz took advantage when Djokovic served poorly in the fifth game, the Polish player broke to gain an advantage in the score. Djokovic responded fiercely, he had two break-points in the eighth game but could not break the game. As a result, Hurkacz won 6-4 and pushed the match into a third set.
Unfortunately, after a good first serve, Hurkacz lost his form and lost 5 games in a row, helping Djokovic win easily 6-1.
The 2-1 victory leaves Djokovic with no choice but to be eliminated if Rune beats Sinner. If the Dane wins 2-1 against the Italian, both will advance to the semi-finals and Djokovic will be eliminated.
"I was focused on winning the match and I did. The result of the match tonight was not in my hands, it was that simple," Djokovic said in his post-match press conference. "I didn't really think about the outcome."
However, Sinner helped Djokovic when he played with determination in the final match and won 2-1 (6-2, 5-7, 6-4) against Rune.
Sinner said after the match: "For me, it was really important to maintain the form after the win against Djokovic. I've never won against Rune, so I really tried my best. I started the match very well. The second set, he served better, moved better, so the match was balanced.
The third set, Rune could have won completely. In the 8th game, I saved the break point. Today my match had ups and downs, but anyway I am really happy and happy to be in the semi-finals."
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