Novak Djokovic reasserts his supremacy at ATP Finals

“In my mind, I always see myself as the best player in the world, of course,” mentioned supremely assured Novak Djokovic after successful his record-equalling sixth title on the ATP Finals. You have to like the “of course.”

That uber confidence has hardly ever ebbed throughout Djokovic’s lengthy and storied profession. Only after he’d misplaced 5 of six main finals in 2012-14 did he admit he had struggled to have his convictions overcome his doubts.

At age 35, these convictions appear stronger than ever now as he strives to earn GOAT recognition. “I have that kind of mentality and that kind of approach,” Djokovic mentioned. “Regardless of who is across the net, regardless of what the surface is, regardless of what season it is, what number of the professional season in my career we’re facing, I mean, it’s always the same. The ambitions are as high as possible.”

Djokovic’s nice ambitions acquired sidetracked this season, although — however not due to his opponents. His refusal to get a COVID vaccination prevented him from taking part in the Australian and U.S. Opens and 4 Masters 1000 tournaments. But when the defiant Serb did play, he typically prevailed with 5 titles in 12 occasions. At the season-ending ATP Finals in Turin, Italy, No. 5-ranked Djokovic whipped 5 of the Elite Eight, prompting former No. 1 Andy Roddick to say, “I don’t care what he’s ranked. He’s the best player in the world.”

Let’s take an in depth have a look at his tour de drive in Turin and see how Djokovic reasserted his supremacy and the way the opposite contenders fared.

The Djokovic sport — The Great Ones at all times try to enhance as a result of they’re perfectionists. “He’s practising even harder than when he was 22,” mentioned Goran Ivanisevic, his coach and former world No. 2. “That’s why he’s still so good, and that’s why he’s still going to be even better.”

But how can Djokovic enhance if his method is already nearly good? The quick reply is to hit tougher, keep constant, and play smarter.

That’s precisely what Djokovic did in his aggressive but decisive 7-5, 6-3 victory over World No. 3 Casper Ruud within the closing. The Serb boasts one of the best serve return and backhand in tennis historical past, and these two pictures have overshadowed two different mighty weapons: his serve and forehand.

Against Ruud, Djokovic made 71% of his first serves, gained a superb 85% of first serve factors and a terrific 69% of his second serve factors, belted 9 aces, had no double faults, and by no means confronted a break level. “He has one of the best serves,” mentioned Ivanisevic. “Especially when it’s tight, it’s tough, especially this week he was hitting unbelievable serves under pressure.”

Even when Ruud managed to return Djokovic’s serve, the Serb typically overpowered him throughout baseline exchanges. He smacked 14 of his 27 winners along with his forehand. “I was really pleased with the way I was playing from the back of the court,” mentioned Djokovic. “With my forehand, I was looking to be very aggressive, and it worked great.”

Tactically, Djokovic principally eschewed drop pictures — which typically had backfired in earlier matches — and got here to the web typically sufficient to maintain the Norwegian off-balance.

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Lastly, Novak excelled on the massive factors, successful 4 of 5 tiebreakers through the match. For the whole season, he racked up a sensational 19-5 tiebreaker file.

Ruud is runner-up once more — The ATP Finals mirrored a lot of Casper Ruud’s extremely profitable but bittersweet 12 months. The mild-mannered, 23-year-old seized three tour titles however misplaced 4 prestigious finals on the U.S. Open, Roland Garros, the Miami Open, and the ATP Finals.

“In the end, it’s been disappointing to end up losing these big finals,” Ruud mentioned. “Overall, if you gave me an offer to end the year at No. 3, play the finals that I’ve played, on the 1st of January this year, I would sign the contract right away. No doubt about it.”

Rudd far surpassed one in all his modest pre-season objectives — reaching his first Grand Slam quarterfinal. From that perspective, he mentioned, “I’ve overachieved compared to my own mind, so I’m very happy about that.”

Final-round losses to No. 1 Carlos Alcaraz in Miami and the U.S. Open, to Rafael Nadal, the King of Clay on the French Open, and to Djokovic on quick indoor exhausting courts in Turin — all terrific gamers on their greatest surfaces — mustn’t dishearten Ruud. Each setback uncovered weaknesses in his sport.

For instance, his much-improved backhand finally broke down in gruelling, energy rallies towards Djokovic, who beat him for the fourth straight time in straight units. Ruud’s volley additionally erred too typically. The sensible, level-headed Norwegian realized from these losses, saying, “I feel like there is room for improvements, so that’s a good thing.”

Fritz breaks by — Taylor Fritz, who had incrementally improved his rating through the earlier three years, broke by in 2022 with a career-high, season-ending No. 9.

The 25-year-old American climaxed his marketing campaign by making the semifinals in his debut on the ATP Finals. He notched round-robin victories towards Nadal and Felix Auger-Aliassime (FAA) earlier than bowing to Djokovic 7-6 (5), 7-6 (6). As Fritz served for the second set at 5-4, 30-all, a spectator yelled when he was about to hit a straightforward backhand. Distracted and angered, he netted the shot. Djokovic gained the following level to interrupt serve and reverse the momentum. Fritz ought to study from that misstep.

“I absolutely feel like I belong,” mentioned Fritz. “I think I’ve proved that I belong in the Top 10. I just need to keep working hard. Fortunately, for me, I think there’s a lot of positives to take out of this year. I finished where I did and I missed pretty much the whole clay-court season, didn’t have any training going into the beginning of the hard-court season. I was dealing with injuries, and I still was able to produce a really solid year.”

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That he did! He captured his first Masters 1000 title in Indian Wells, the place he upset Andrey Rublev and Nadal. He additionally gained Eastbourne on grass and Tokyo on exhausting courts. An enormous first serve, a extra aggressive forehand, and a newfound confidence bode nicely for Fritz subsequent 12 months.

Rublev acquired sport — Andrey Rublev fired again with the drive of his rocket serve when ungracious loser Stefanos Tsitsipas criticised his sport. After Rublev prevailed 3-6, 6-3, 6-2 on the ATP Finals, Tsitsipas carped, “I didn’t really feel threatened…. I feel like the better player…. I felt like I could just be much more creative…. But, yeah, he prevailed with the few tools that he has.”

When requested about Tsitsipas’ uncalled-for feedback, Rublev mentioned, “If we go shot by shot, I think his backhand is better than mine. His forehand is not better than mine. His serve speed is not better than mine. But I don’t think that I beat him because of few tools. If you take our match, every match, we have tough battles. This year I lost to him twice in three sets, and now I beat him in three sets.”

The No. 8 Rublev has a lot to be happy with, having gained 4 titles this 12 months — in Marseille, Dubai, Belgrade, and Gijon — and making the semis on the ATP Finals for the primary time.

Even so, Rublev clearly wants extra tactical selection. He should capitalise extra on his booming serve and forehand by coming to internet extra, utilizing angles, and stroking well timed drop pictures. He additionally wants extra energy and spin on his weak second serve, which averaged solely 91 mph towards Djokovic, 90 mph towards Tsitsipas, and 85 mph towards Ruud.

During his 6-7 (7), 6-3, 7-6 (7) victory over fellow Russian Daniil Medvedev, he displayed a superb tactic by returning second serves from a foot contained in the baseline. Rublev additionally did an excellent job of controlling his aggression and staying affected person towards an excellent counterpuncher by successful 21 of 29 factors that went 9 pictures or extra. And on his fifth match level, he ended a brutal, 37-shot rally with a forehand volley winner.

Rublev now is aware of that being an aimless, one-dimensional slugger can take him solely thus far.

Medvedev’s hunch worsens — Since shedding a five-set closing to Nadal on the 2022 Australian Open, the 26-year-old Russian has gone 0-8 towards prime 10 opponents. The final three losses got here on the ATP Finals, all by 7-6 within the third set to Rublev, Tsitsipas, and Djokovic. Two weeks earlier than, he misplaced 7-5 within the third set to No. 25 Alex De Minaur within the Paris Masters first spherical.

When Medvedev was dominating the second set of the Paris match, Tennis Channel analyst Paul Annacone averred, “Medvedev is a strategic genius when it comes to playing points. He knows just what he wants to do. He is such an anomaly. It’s tough to figure him out.”

Not anymore! First, Medvedev’s too-deep positioning prevents him from dominating baseline rallies with highly effective groundstrokes or sharp angles. Poor positioning additionally makes it tougher to hit drop pictures and attain quick balls. It causes him to hit quick balls himself. It’s additionally harder to hit passing pictures, significantly crosscourt, from deep positions, and Tsitsipas capitalised by successful 30 of 37 internet factors.

Second, although Medvedev can run his opponents round, he lacks a knockout punch to finish factors shortly with one shot. That creates lengthy rallies, particularly towards different counterpunchers just like the tenacious, speedy De Minaur. Extended rallies aren’t essentially good for the Russian, although, as a result of he typically will get drained earlier than his opponents do. Oddly sufficient, he’s a counterpuncher who admitted he doesn’t wish to run. Unless 2021 U.S. Open champion Medvedev turns into extra offensive-minded and improves his backcourt positioning, develops a knockout shot, and corrects his flawed volley, he gained’t win one other main.

Auger-Aliassime’s dream — Thrilled at making his ATP Finals debut, Felix mentioned, “It’s something I’ve dreamed of and recently became my goal. And now that I have achieved this goal, it makes me feel very proud and also for the people around me, including my family and team.”

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Auger-Aliassime reached his dream vacation spot because the Tour’s hottest participant. He captured three consecutive titles in Florence, Antwerp, and Basel earlier than teenager Holger Rune ended his 16-match successful streak within the Paris semifinals.

The lightning-fast courts in Turin helped power-hitting FAA upset his boyhood idol Nadal 6-3, 6-4 for the primary time in three tries. “When I am playing like this, I have proven I can compete and beat some of the best players in the world,” mentioned Felix, who hammered 15 aces.

Against Ruud, the good-looking, 22-year-old Canadian boldly hit 38% of his groundstrokes from contained in the baseline within the first set, however, paradoxically, got here to internet solely 10 occasions, regardless of successful all 10 factors. He misplaced the match 7-6 (4), 6-4 and may study to maximise a successful tactic.

Faulty shot choice within the deciding set additionally damage Auger-Aliassime in his duel towards Fritz with a berth within the semis at stake. After his 7-6 (4), 6-7 (5), 6-2 setback, FAA mentioned, “In the third set, [I made some] bad [shot] choices, bad execution. Maybe I lost focus a little bit. The fact that I’m tired, sometimes you don’t feel like you’re tired, but it’s late, you’ve played a lot. I’ve played a long year.”

Indeed, he had, but it surely was additionally his most profitable 12 months. The extremely athletic Canadian want solely strengthen his second serve and backhand and tweak his ways to win a serious in 2023.

Tsitsipas household dysfunction — Tennis dad and mom have ranged from violent monsters like Damir Dokic and Marinko Lucic to position fashions like Karolj Seles and Jimmy Evert. Where Apostolos Tsitsipas, the father-coach of world No. 4 Stefanos, finally ends up on the tennis father or mother spectrum is anybody’s guess. But their fraught relationship is trending downward.

Let’s begin although with the nice news. Stefanos’ thrilling 6-3, 6-7 (11), 7-6 (1) overcome Medvedev, climaxed by the Greek’s splendid 7-1 deciding set tiebreaker, proved the spotlight of his match. No one anticipated Tsitsipas to beat Djokovic, who had gained their final 9 matches, so Novak’s 6-4, 7-6 win was predictable.

The Tsitsipas household has a historical past of unlawful teaching throughout matches, drawing repeated warnings from umpires and complaints from opponents. Stefanos has instructed his dad and mom he doesn’t need their enter, however that hasn’t stopped his garrulous dad from shouting from the participant’s field. In the third set of his 3-6, 6-3, 6-2 loss to Rublev, a pissed off and offended Tsitsipas whacked a ball in direction of his father.

Former No. 1 Jim Courier greatest summed up the Tsitsipas household dysfunction. “Things out of his control are impacting Stefanos,” Courier mentioned on Tennis Channel. “His family is so invested in his success. They want to help him from the sidelines, but they’re just hurting him. And it’s hurting his chances to play good tennis. You saw how he threw his serve away with two double faults [in the third set]. He got lost in the match when his parents started jawing at each other. It seems like they need a therapy session to figure it all out. Because they want their kid to do well, but it’s just not working. The way it’s going right now, it’s hurting him more than it’s helping.”

Nadal fights valiantly — Like an previous, battered warhorse who relishes competing till he drops, Nadal staggered into the ATP Finals to complete a principally very good however injury-riddled 12 months.

He captured the Australian Open regardless of a case of COVID and a power foot damage that left him on crutches in December 2021. He misplaced the Indian Wells closing to Fritz whereas hampered by a painful fractured rib. At the French Open, affected by extreme foot ache from a congenital foot illness, Nadal wanted a pre-final injection, which made his foot really feel “asleep,” to win his 14th title.

At Wimbledon, his father urged Nadal, hampered by a seven-millimetre tear in his belly muscle, to retire towards Fritz. Instead, this final warrior, now 36, obtained therapy and got here again to win in a fifth-set tiebreaker. He then defaulted his semifinal match to Nick Kyrgios to finish his bid for a uncommon Grand Slam.

No surprise the debilitated Nadal gained solely three matches within the subsequent 4 months earlier than the ATP Finals. It was additionally no shock he misplaced his first two round-robin matches, to Fritz and Auger-Aliassime. Perhaps the feel-good story in Turin was his season-ending 7-5, 7-5 victory over Ruud.

“I can’t ask for more,” mentioned Nadal, each conqueror and survivor. “2022 has had a tough six months, two Grand Slams, and finishing the year in a high spot [No. 2] in the rankings. So, I can’t complain at all. At my age, to be able to achieve and be competitive means a lot for me.”

Who is aware of how way more or how nicely the seemingly indestructible Spaniard can play? At a minimal, he’ll seemingly nonetheless thrive on clay subsequent 12 months. A Tennis Channel analyst even quipped, “Nadal will probably win five to seven more French Opens after he retires.”