Djokovic celebrates after ending year as world no.1
Novak Djokovic admitted that Jannik Sinner’s doubles performance took him by surprise as Italy beat Serbia to book their ticket to the Davis Cup final. Sinner defeated the 24-time Grand Slam champion twice in one day, in a coming-of-age display at the Palacio de Deportes in Malaga.
Serbia initially took control of the semi-final when Miomir Kecmanovic triumphed over Lorenzo Musetti in a three-set singles match. However, Sinner levelled the scores by going the distance with Djokovic to notch a singles win of his own.
The pair had faced off in the final of the ATP World Tour Finals less than a week prior, with Djokovic coming out on top. Sinner evidently managed to shrug off that defeat, and he compounded his rival’s misery by teaming up with Musetti and beating the Serbian duo 6-3 6-4.
Italy are now gearing up for Sunday’s final against Australia, who fought their way through by seeing off Finland 2-0 on Friday.
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Speaking after Serbia’s devastating loss, Djokovic claims that Sinner, who has a negative career win-loss record in doubles, exceeded his expectations. “I know Jannik’s quality, but, you know, I was thinking maybe he’s gonna drop a little bit, you know, in the doubles, but he didn’t,” said the 36-year-old.
“He kept the level extremely high, and at the end of the singles match, also third set, I had a lot of chances to break him and was in his service games, but every time he needed he found the serve.
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“We know that he’s got one of the fastest forehands in the game and he puts a lot of spin and a lot of power in it. I wasn’t surprised too much by that. Yeah, just a very good performance from them.”
Djokovic had not lost a singles match for Serbia in well over a decade, and Sinner has now beaten him three times in the past two weeks. Even so, the world No 1 was gracious in defeat and paid tribute to his young rival’s electric string of performances.
“Congratulations to Italy for qualifying for finals. They deserved it,” he continued. “They played really well, particularly Jannik, in singles against me and then doubles, as well. He barely missed the ball the entire match. So, you know, you can only say congrats and hats down for the performance like that.
“For me personally it’s a huge disappointment, because I take the responsibility, obviously having three match points, being so close to win it. Yeah, it’s unfortunate really. This is sport. When you lose for your country, you know, the bitter feeling is even greater.”
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