Novak Djokovic’s winning streak was halted at 19 matches as the house favorite Jannik Sinner was roared to an excellent 7-5, 6-7 (5), 7-6 (2) victory by a partisan ATP Finals crowd in Turin on Tuesday.
The earlier Green Group conflict was a non-event as Stefanos Tsitsipas retired injured in opposition to Holger Rune, however the night ticket holders had been handled to a match of jaw-dropping high quality. After greater than three hours of an absorbing toe-to-toe battle by which neither participant took a backward step it was world No 4 Sinner who seized his probability within the deciding set tie-break lastly to crack Djokovic’s resistance.
Sinner, 14 years Djokovic’s junior, wrapped up his first profession win in opposition to the 24-time grand slam champion with a smash – prompting deafening roars from the sell-out crowd. He strikes high of the group though he’s not but assured a semi-final spot forward of his remaining round-robin match in opposition to Rune on Thursday.
Tsitsipas had earlier lasted solely three video games of his second match in opposition to Rune earlier than pulling out of the match and event with a again damage.
There had been doubts over the health of the Greek participant within the buildup to the event in Turin however he didn’t seem unduly troubled on Sunday in a gap defeat by Sinner. Tsitsipas, although, barely moved throughout the third recreation in opposition to Rune and sat down gingerly on his bench trailing 2-1.
He known as the coach however, after a quick chat, he was helped to his toes and shook fingers with Rune, leaving the court docket to a refrain of jeers and whistles from the disillusioned crowd.
Tsitsipas revealed he has been struggling with a again drawback, with Hubert Hurkacz set to take his place within the final set of round-robin fixtures.
“My apologies to all the fans and the crowd that came to support me today and watch the match,” he stated. “I’m really gutted that I wasn’t able to finish the match. It’s a shame also not to give that spot to someone else to at least try and do something with it.”
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