Novak Djokovic usual animosity against the Italian fans during the ATP Finals clash against Jannik Sinner seemed to be toned down and former British No. 1 Tim Henman thinks the Serbian has come to terms with his role as tennis’ ultimate villain.
Cheering crowds back has become a theme of the 2023 season for the legendary Serbian who has a long history of taking on the hostile crowds. Djokovic was once again on the receiving end from the fans in Turin as he turned Conductor to steer their jeers and boos which were music to his ears. He moved his hands in front of his face for a couple of seconds and seemed to enjoy the symphony played by the rowdy crowd that rallied behind home hope Jannik Sinner.
The 22-year-old came of age at the ATP Finals in Turin to record his first win over the 24-time Grand Slam champion. He won the three sets enthralling battle 7-5, 6-7(5-7), 7-6 (7-2) in front of packed stands.
Defending champion Novak Djokovic will next take Hubert Hurkacz on Thursday in a bid to qualify for the semis.
In a high voltage clash, Sinner raised his level in front of a racucous home support base to grab a crucial break in the 11th game despite 40-0 down. He then held to love to take the first frame.
The World No. 1, who was on a 19-match win streak fought back to take the second set to tiebreak and was twice a minibreak down before levelling the match one set apiece to cup his ears to the spectators – the majority of whom were rooting for his opponent.
World No. 4 Sinner then came up with the flawless game as he broke Djokovic to 15 with a hard hit forehand to put 4-2 on the score board in the decider. Djokovic however, roared back to finally broke the youngster for the first time in match at 2 hours and 40 minutes. At 5-6 Djokovic started to join the symphony of boos directed towards him from his seat at the changeover.
The 6-time ATP Finals champion had won 30 tiebreakers this season but was evaded by 31st as Sinner took a 5-0 lead before clubbing a smash to have his maiden win over the difficult Serbian.
“I feel I’m a bit more confident in certain moments but I still have to learn many things,” he said on Amazon Prime.
“I think I was really brave and intelligent, especially in the third set. I think we both played really well.
“It means a lot to me. When you win against the world number one who won 24 grand slams it’s up at the top.”
It was a high-quality clash from the very beginning to the very end remained a very intense affair, with Djokovic appearing to cheer the wrath directed towards him.
The 36-year-old has faced distracting crowds throughout his career but he appeared to take them on more often in 2023 and the pattern was repeated in Turin.
According to 6-time major semi-finalist Henman, Djokovic appears to be drawing inspiration and thriving on the negative energy that comes his way.
“Sometimes when Djokovic starts taking on a crowd it is with much more animosity than he showed here,” said Henman.
“Here, he looked like he was enjoying it. Maybe it is a reflection of him ending the year as world No 1 whatever. He was the conductor. Trying to orchestrate the crowd. It seemed he was in good spirits, but he will be disappointed to lose this match.”
Henman went on to suggest that Sinner will take a lot of positives from his maiden win over Djokovic and this will certainly raise his confidence.
“It was an amazing night,” added Henman. “Sinner absolutely delivered. I’m so pleased for him, these Italian fans and this event that he managed to come through.
“It could be a major turning point. He’s been doing all the right things, winning a Masters 1000 event and reaching a Grand Slam semi-final, but he has just delivered across the board. He served so well and did such a good job in the deciding tie-break.
“He had the belief to keep going for his shots and get across the finishing line.”