(Turin) Serbian Novak Djokovic is sure to end the year in first place in the world after his success against Dane Holger Rune 7-6 (7/4), 6-7 (1/7), 6-3 in the first day of the ATP Masters, Sunday in Turin (Italy).
Djokovic, 36, will finish the season at No. 1 in the ATP rankings for the 8th time in his career, a new record. He had already finished the 2011, 2012, 2014, 2015, 2018, 2020 and 2021 seasons with the status of the best player on the planet.
Even before the entry into the running of world No.2 Carlos Alcaraz on Monday, “Djoko” can no longer be caught by his Spanish rival.
Thanks to this success, he is also assured of becoming the first player in history to reach the symbolic figure of 400 weeks spent at the top of the ATP rankings.
The Serbian, defending champion, is aiming for a seventh coronation in the “Masters tournament” which pits the eight best players of the year against each other at the end of the season.
With six successes, he co-holds the record for victories in this competition with his former great rival, the Swiss Roger Federer.
Against Rune, sixteen years his junior, Djokovic signed his 19th consecutive victory after just over three hours of play, but he suffered against the Dane who had won two of their four previous confrontations.
Rune notably inflicted a scathing and rare 7-1 on him to win the tiebreaker of the second set, which had not happened to Djokovic since the 2016 Australian Open, against Frenchman Gilles Simon.
“It was complicated against an opponent who played at an incredible level. From the first game I felt it was going to be a long match and he could beat me,” he said.
“Every match against him is very close, I sometimes have the impression of playing against myself, we are very similar in the style of play”, underlined the man who won three Grand Slam titles in 2023 for reaching a record total of 24 major tournaments.
