Djokovic and Sinner will meet for the third time in nine days
Four days after winning his seventh Masters Cup in Turin, Novak Djokovic began his pursuit of his second Davis Cup with Serbia. The world number 1 and great protagonist of the season, seeks to put the best closure in the Martín Carpena pavilion to a year in which he has won three Grand Slam titles to finish for the eighth time at the top of the ranking. With residence in Marbella, where he spends some periods of the year, and without underestimating the large British fan base, Nole feels in some way a host, also on a surface on which he moves with the skill demonstrated by the consecutive indoor titles in Paris -Bercy and in Turin.
Absent Spain, eliminated last September in the first group stage, Djokovic and Sinner, who played for the title in the ATP Finals, are the main attractions in these Davis Cup Finals. After Italy's victory against the Netherlands, with the world number 4 multiplying successfully in singles and doubles, and Serbia's triumph against Great Britain, with victories in singles by Miomir Kecmanovic and Djokovic, Malaga will attend this Saturday to the third match between Sinner and Nole in just nine days.
It is, without a doubt, one of the most suggestive matches that can be enjoyed today, a generational confrontation that the transalpine managed to make fall on his side in the Turin round robin before finding a forceful reply in the final of the tournament. Serbia and Italy will play the second semifinal of the tournament, after Australia and Finland meet this Friday (4:00 p.m., Movistar).
Firm Kecmanovic
Djokovic took to the court with the support of Kecmanovic's victory, who had defeated Jack Draper, British number two, 7-6 (2) and 7-6 (6). The one from Belgrade responded to the confidence of his captain, Viktor Trocki, who chose him despite having a worse ranking than Laslo Djere and Dusan Lajovic, the other alternatives. More temperate than his rival, Kecmanovic penalized the young left-hander's vulnerability in the tiebreakers.
The survival of Great Britain was in the hands of Cameron Norrie, 18th, an intelligent and combative tennis player but who had only managed to take one set from Djokovic in their three meetings, last year in the Wimbledon semi-finals.. Comfortable from the beginning, Nole managed the only break to take the first set, conveying the impression that after winning consecutively against Carlos Alcaraz and Sinner in the ATP Finals, to fight successfully in the tournament that brings together the eight best of the course, he traveled quite comfortably against a lower-ranked opponent. Djokovic's superiority was once again reflected at the start of the second set. As happened to Sinner in the final last Sunday, Norrie had to attend little less than an exhibition by the winner of 24 Grand Slam titles.
At 36 years old, Djokovic performs with surprising freshness when most tennis players have their reserve on.. Not only did he win 6-4 and 6-4, but he did so with a sufficiency that strengthens him as a favorite in the third match against Sinner in such a short period of time. On the Italian's side is the value of having been the only one capable of beating him in the last 24 games. Since he lost to Alcaraz in the Wimbledon final, only Sinner has been able to stop Djokovic, who, however, took little time to respond to the affront.