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Djokovic, finalist in the Masters Cup, stalks Federer's record

2022-11-19T16:47:51.412Z


The Serbian resolves the semifinal against Fritz in a double tiebreaker (7-6(5) and 7-6(6) and awaits the winner of Ruud-Rublev this Sunday


With the pass to his eighth final of the Masters Cup already in his pocket, Novak Djokovic says that against Taylor Fritz he had to play to "survive", and that he did not feel particularly "reactive" or "comfortable".

The previous day, the 21-major champion had taken a tremendous beating to seal the plenary session in the group stage –3h 11m, the longest duel of this edition– and his expressiveness again shows symptoms of physical decline, although He has shot again ex officio to resolve against the American (7-6(5) and 7-6(6), after 1h 54m) and equal the final record of the German Boris Becker, only behind Roger Federer (10). and Ivan Lendl (9).

"It was not my best day in terms of tennis, but I held on," he explained to the fans of the Pala Alpitour in Turin, witness this Saturday of a semifinal resolved to all or nothing of the

tie-break

, but always with the feeling that at the Moment of truth, the Serb is going to end up imposing his law, as is the case.

Even competing on the trantran, without the need for frivolity, the veteran (35) ends up annulling Fritz's attempt and the good run of the American in the tournament;

there remains the victory against Rafael Nadal and the firm will to consolidate himself among the strongest rackets on the circuit, now that the new winds are gathering strength and substantial turns are coming.

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Djokovic does not tremble before tremors

Faced with this inevitable reality, Djokovic rebels and reaffirms himself.

With 48 games (41 wins and seven losses) and self-ruled out of some far-reaching events, the Serbian closes the course by establishing himself as one of the most outstanding and aspires this Sunday (7:00 p.m., Movistar) to become the oldest champion of the tournament.

In the case of beating Casper Ruud or Andrei Rublev, faced tonight (9:00 p.m.) in the other semifinal, he would surpass the record of Federer, a winner in 2011 at the age of 30.

The true goal of him, in any case, is superior.

If he achieves his sixth laurel, he will equal the record of the Swiss and, incidentally, he will get the most important economic booty in history.

Unbeaten so far, Djokovic can enter 4.6 million euros, a record in the history of his sport.

The prize would also mean his fifth title this season, the same as Carlos Alcaraz, who he is aiming for decisively.

The Balkan is currently 2,500 points behind the Spanish in the

ranking

, but he is between eyebrows to recover the throne and another masterful bite would bring him closer to his purpose, since the first quarter of 2023 is presented to him as an excellent opportunity to add and add

“I am very motivated and hungry.

I only have one more game left, so I'll give it my all”, anticipates the winner of 2008, 2012, 2013, 2014 and 2015. After the last notch, Djokovic failed in the 2016 (Andy Murray) and 2018 (Alexander Zverev) finals. ), so that he will approach this Sunday's appointment with everything.

Against Fritz, whom he already dominates by a resounding 6-0 in particular, he knew how to manage each setback and escape the thorniest situation, when the American –champion this year in Indian Wells and quarterfinalist at Wimbledon– served to win the second set and balance;

however, he missed a comfortable setback at half court and enabled the Serb to break, who did not forgive the tiebreaker.

After reaching the summit in Shanghai and then at the O2 in London, the man from Belgrade also intends to reach the top in Turin, where only Ruud or Rublev can stop him.

In his sauce, despite the fatigue accumulated in this final

sprint

, Nole continues to rise.

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Source: elparis

All sports articles on 2022-11-19

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