2023-11-12 11:25:03
Of the eight participants in the Masters, which begins this Sunday in Turin, Italy, Novak Djokovic (36) is the oldest, by far. Facing him, in the group stage, he will face three “kids”, around ten or even fifteen years younger: the Greek Stefanos Tsitsipas (25 years old), the Italian Jannik Sinner (22 years old) and the Dane Holger Rune (20 years old).
Another impressive statistic, the Serbian is nine years older than Daniil Medvedev, the “oldest” of the seven other participants in these 2023 Masters with his 27 years. If he dominates the age pyramid of the competition, “Djoko” is above all at the top of world tennis this year. With his victories at the Australian Open, Roland Garros and US Open, he equaled Australian Margaret Court’s record for Grand Slam titles (24).
Add to that three victories in Adelaide in January, Cincinnati in August then Bercy a week ago and Djokovic arrives in Turin with great confidence, having not lost a match (excluding the Davis Cup) since the Wimbledon final against Alcaraz mid-July. “I came here with the ambition of finishing the season with a title and in the best possible way,” he said about these Masters.
He can overtake Federer in the number of Masters
A competition that Novak Djokovic has already won six times, a record that he shares with Roger Federer and that he intends to keep for himself. In the event of victory, the Serbian can achieve two other unprecedented performances by finishing the season in first place in the ATP ranking for the eighth time and by reaching 400 weeks at the top of this ranking, he who occupied it for the first time in 2011.
To do this, he will have to face a generation that has only one desire: to eclipse the old ones once and for all. “In this tournament, there is never an easy match or easier group than another. The best players in the world are there and each match is like a final,” said the Serb this Friday.
To start, he will face the Dane Holger Rune this Sunday evening (from 9 p.m.), one of the few on the circuit to have no complexes facing Djoko, as proven by the results of their confrontations (two victories each) . Now coached by Boris Becker, three-time winner of the event, Rune sets no limits: “The more I play, the more I have fun,” he claimed.
A first for Alcaraz
Among the other participants, we find three winners of the tournament: Tsitsipas in 2019, Medvedev in 2020 and Alexander Zverev in 2018 and 2021. But one last player arouses curiosities: the Spaniard Carlos Alcaraz, deprived of Masters in 2022 because of an abdominal injury. 2023 could well have been his year, as evidenced by his legendary match against Djoko at Wimbledon, synonymous with the sixth title of the season.
But since this victory, the 20-year-old prodigy has been slowing down. Latest example: his elimination in the first round at Bercy. “It took me several days to digest this defeat, it hurt me,” he admitted. But I feel pretty good, I’ve worked, both physically and tennis-wise. »
“I’m 100%, I want to make the most of it,” assures the world number 2 who no longer believes in his chances of beating Djokovic to finish the year at the top of the ATP rankings.
The Masters groups
Green group: Novak Djokovic (SRB), Jannik Sinner (ITA), Stefanos Tsitsipas (GRE), Holger Rune (DEN).
Groupe rouge : Carlos Alcaraz (ESP), Daniil Medvedev (RUS), Andrey Rublev (RUS), Alexander Zverev (GER).
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