ATP Finals, Group Stage, Friday, 18.11.2022
Apparently someone has had enough of six titleless years! Novak Djokovic doesn’t look like anyone can stop him from winning the trophy at these ATP Finals in Turin.
The Serb has already reached the semi-finals, now he doesn’t want to lose his strong rhythm in the final group match. His opponent is the big disappointment at the finals: Daniil Medvedev, already safely out.
This also leads to the fact that top provider Bwin sees the Djoker quite clearly in front on Friday. In my Medvedev Djokovic tip, I will therefore reveal what I think speaks for this match outcome and why I also believe that the Russian will hardly have a chance to win.
Eighth place in the world rankings? Novak Djokovic will definitely have to swallow a little when looking at the current ranking. Of course, he knows that apart from controversial points awards, his missed tournaments have also led to this.
After his triumph in Wimbledon, he had to skip the US Open due to Corona, but came home with the trophy in Tel Aviv. There was no way around him in Astana either, players like Khachanov, Medvedev or Tsitsipas were unable to stop him.
After Djokovic was caught completely by surprise by Holger Rune in the final in Paris, this defeat obviously spurred him on even more to show everyone at the finals.
With five titles, the Djoker is the record champion here, but at the same time his last success was seven years ago. His performances leave no doubt that he now wants to end that drought.
He got going with a 6-4, 7-6 win over Stefanos Tsitsipas, keeping a very strong rival in check here. He took one break chance and that was enough. He even fended off the one he gave the Greek with aplomb.
Against Andrey Rublev he then improved once more, the 6-4, 6-1 did not contain any points of criticism. 94% won points on first serve, his service is impossible to resist at the moment.
Eleven times, by the way, the fans have already been able to watch a duel between Novak Djokovic and Daniil Medvedev. In Astana a few weeks ago, the Russian retired despite his strong form, and the reasons are still being puzzled over.
Two years ago, the first and so far only match that the finals had chosen as a stage took place. It went to Medvedev 6-3, 6-3, and in the end the Russian even stood on top.
This, it is already certain, will not happen in 2022. The year started with a disappointment, the year ends with a disappointment, from a purely sporting point of view Daniil Medvedev can’t put it any other way.
At the Australian Open, he had given away a comfortable lead against Rafael Nadal, and now at the finals he has been eliminated after two matches. It was two matches that showed that Medvedev is currently also lacking match luck.
7-6 (7), 3-6, 6-7 (7), that’s how the duel against his Russian compatriot Andrey Rublev ended. When he played Stefanos Tsitsipas a few days later, he had to accept the identical result in a different order.
3-6, 7-6 (11), 6-7 (1), the last tournament of the year ended prematurely. Although he served 40 aces and averaged 85% won points on first serve, he ended up empty-handed.
His opponents only gave him three break chances, two of which he made use of. This already shows that Medvedev’s own performance was not that bad, his competitors were just that decisive bit better.
One is surely through, the other is surely out! Between Novak Djokovic and Daniil Medvedev it’s all about the golden pineapple on Friday. The question of who will still push their limits is therefore very difficult to answer.
We were very impressed by the performances of the Serb, who seems unbeatable in his own service.Medvedev tried everything, but failed in the decisive moments against Andrei Rublyov and Stefanos Tsitsipas.
I can’t imagine Djokovic giving away the third win lightly, even if he doesn’t need it anymore. My tip is also based on the eliminated Medvedev and ultimately reads:
Djokovic wins with less than 30.5 games!
