(Football news) Although Rune battled hard against Novak Djokovic but ultimately lost in three sets, the Greek sixth seed was easily defeated by Jannik Sinner in their first match.
Tsitsipas, the 2019 winner, faced the Turin poster child in his first ATP Finals match, hoping to build on his five victories in his first seven top-level clashes with Sinner, who had triumphed in their most recent meeting in Rotterdam.
With just five unforced errors and no double faults, Tsitsipas was able to hold his own against Sinner. However, the Italian’s lightning-fast serves and 21 winners were the difference in Sunday’s 6-4 6-4 victory.
After the match, Tsitsipas politely thanked the 22-year-old on a fantastic opening performance. Despite hitting some incredible backhands on the hard court, Tsitsipas was also let down by a few strokes on that side and failed to create a single opportunity to break the player.
Fears of another early exit are raised when Tsitsipas, who lost to Sinner in straight sets and now has a 51-23 record for the year, is ranked dead last in the Green group below the Italian, Rune, and top player Djokovic at year’s conclusion.
Following his triumphant start in 2019, Tsitsipas has lost three straight matches in the round-robin round and will be left to face his fate if he is unable to right the wrongs against Rune, who also has some righteous issues following an incredible match against Djokovic.
Before starting his first-ever ATP Finals campaign, Rune had defeated Djokovic in all four of their elite matches and had a 50% success percentage against the 24-time Grand Slam champion, whom he had defeated in the Paris Masters final the previous year and the Italian Open in May.
The Scandinavian beauty would again give Djokovic a serious match, but as their three-hour battle came to an end and Rune began to tire, his respected opponent took advantage and defeated him 6-7[4] 7-6[1] 3-6 in the match that served as the evening’s main attraction.
Also read: Novak Djokovic set to play Jannik Sinner in ATP Finals
