ATP Finals, Final, Sunday, 20.11.2022
It’s not just the final of the ATP Finals 2022, but also that of this spectacular tennis year. In Turin on Sunday night, Novak Djokovic and Casper Ruud will face each other for the final trophy.
While the one can hardly count his appearances in the final, the other is celebrating an absolute premiere. For Betway it is therefore clear: It is the Djoker who is ahead with average odds of 1.25 to 3.90.
Both have been convincing in the last few days, so what conclusion do I come to in my Ruud Djokovic tip? I have a clear tendency, namely the following: The Serb will win by a relatively clear margin!
Novak Djokovic in the final? Who would have expected THAT! The answer comes as no surprise: Almost everyone, actually. This is the eighth time the former world No. 1 has fought his way into the final.
Should he reach the top on Sunday, it would be title number six, making Djokovic the record champion together with Roger Federer. His performances so far clearly show that he was not the favourite from the start for nothing.
He got off to a flying start with a 6-4, 7-6 win over Stefanos Tsitsipas, and the 6-4, 6-1 win over Andrey Rublev was a strong performance. He had not allowed a single break in those two matches.
Before the match against Daniil Medvedev, the semi-finals were already decided, but Djokovic did not want to show any weakness. 6-3, 6-7, 7-6, he allowed six break opportunities this time, but only one found its way into the goal.
Three tiebreaks in three matches, was that a sign of the semi-final against Taylor Fritz? Both played an intense exchange of blows that hardly wanted to come to an end.
The match ended 7-6 (5), 7-6 (6) in favour of the Serbian superstar, probably both could have played for days longer. Djokovic knows every inch of the finals, but will that help him on Sunday?
Three times so far he has faced Casper Ruud, winning all three duels without dropping a set. This year, both met in the semi-finals in Rome, the 6-4, 6-3 was the clearest of the three victories.
This is another reason why the bookies in our 2022 bettor ranking do not believe in a surprise. However, Casper Ruud will probably not be underestimated, because whoever wins against several top stars deserves to reach the final.
7-6, 6-4, this close result against Felix Auger-Aliassime opened his finals. It remained close against Taylor Fritz as well, this time Ruud had to go to three sets but won 6-3, 4-6, 7-6.
Promptly, he was also a semi-finalist in his second finals, the 5-7, 5-7 loss to Rafael Nadal no longer mattered. In 2021, he had still failed to beat Daniil Medvedev, but this year he left no doubt that Andrey Rublev has lost nothing in the top two.
6-2, 6-4, it was the clearest win in the complete tournament. Regarding the serve, it is visible that he very rarely gets above the 80% won points on the first service. Djokovic seems to be a bit stronger here.
The Norwegian didn’t double fault against Nadal or Rublev, so his concentration is good. Ruud will now play his first ever final.
Novak Djokovic has once again reached top form at the end of the year. The veteran can pick up his sixth Finals title, but the last few matches must have taken a fair amount of energy out of him too.
Many tiebreaks and close results, but he always prevailed. Casper Ruud, on the other hand, sent Andrey Rublev home quite easily. But we observed that he didn’t win a single set against the Djoker.
In the end, I expect a relatively close affair, but Djokovic is clearly ahead for me. So clearly that in the end I say: He won’t leave much to be desired!
My tip: Djokovic wins 2:0 against Ruud!
