Jannik Sinner defeated Holger Rune on Thursday and guaranteed Novak Djokovic’s qualification in the semifinals of the ATP Finals. The Italian beat Rune in three sets in a topsy-turvy clash. The win meant Sinner finished No.1 in the group followed by Novak Djokovic in second spot.
Djokovic faced wildcard replacement, Hubert Hurkacz in his last match of the round robin stage. The Serbian won the first set in a tie-break, but lost the second set to the Polish star. This meant that Holger Rune would have qualified for the semi-final had he beaten Sinner in the night match. Novak Djokovic needed a big favor from the Italian who helped the Serbian qualify.
There were doubts amongst Djokovic’s fans whether or not Sinner will play to his full potential, knowing that he has already qualified. Also, Djokovic will be a big threat going forward for the Italian and a defeat against Rune would have eliminated the Serbian. However, Sinner proved all the doubters wrong by playing to his full limit and beating Rune in the process.
After his win, the tennis community feels that Sinner is now the favorite to win the ATP Finals. The Italian has the support of his home crowd and is looking in great touch. The Italian said that he wanted to win against Rune to take forward his positive intent from his win against Novak Djokovic. He further added that he likes to have some pressure and that gets the best out of him. This mentality has led to people believing in Jannik Sinner again and making him to favorite for the tournament.
Jannik Sinner says he needed to beat Rune to confirm everything he did well against Djokovic:
“I felt some pain in the second set, but then it disappeared. It was in a specific movement, but really everything is fine in my body. I never thought about having to retire or anything… pic.twitter.com/RcUXpBZ1wq
— The Tennis Letter (@TheTennisLetter) November 17, 2023
Fans on social media back Jannik Sinner for ATP Finals glory ahead of Novak Djokovic
The tennis community took to social media to express their thoughts on Sinner’s dominant performances so far. The Italian has topped the group and registered wins against Novak Djokovic and Holger Rune. Fans believe that with the backing of the home crowd and current form, the Italian is the favorite for the ATP Finals title. Some fans even believe that Jannik Sinner has higher motivation to win his title, than Novak Djokovic.
Sinner should win it. He’s playing well. He’s got home court. Djokovic has year end #1 locked up so his motivation is lower. This is a tournament that favors young fresh legs which is why medvedev and Tsitsipas have won it, and zverev has won it twice.
— Danny Gelber (@dannygelber) November 17, 2023
Mindset of a champion. pic.twitter.com/Mv1TggwlyI
— Stannis (@KeyserVSR) November 17, 2023
This is how maturity sounds like. No pretending, the real thing.
— Eva Grimaldi (@EvaGrimaldi20) November 17, 2023
“The next alpha male cometh”
and
This new set of “next gen” seems to be very confident of their talent which make them fearless which is what is lacking with those previous “next gens”
— Ⓜ️ax2️⃣4️⃣➕➕ (@Taculogsky) November 17, 2023
Sinner era it will b….
— ️️️️ 7⃣0⃣ (@vikshi1311) November 17, 2023
champion mentality
— erinni❤️ ¹⁴²² (@3rinni) November 17, 2023
The future king of ATP
Take every 2024 future you can https://t.co/g3UOm7OhYg
— Yungus (@yungus__) November 17, 2023
Сhampion’s mindset
— Ace Predictor (@Ace_Predictor) November 17, 2023
