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Novak Djokovic - Wimbledon 2023
ATP Tennis Players, Novak Djokovic, Tennis News

‘Novak Djokovic is the best the sport has ever had’, says top ATP star


Jannik Sinner says Novak Djokovic is ‘the best the sport has ever had’ ahead of their showdown at the ATP Finals, but he is relishing the battle.

For many, with his incredible balance and clean baseline hitting, Sinner is the closest thing tennis has seen to Djokovic in recent years.

There is probably some merit to that argument, and Sinner has caused the Serbian problems despite losing all three of their clashes so far.

Sinner will get another chance when they meet in the round robin stage of the ATP Finals, though, and he says he feels closer than ever to beating him.

“You find yourself in front of someone who has won 24 Slams, three out of four this year alone,” Sinner said. “In terms of results, he is the best that this sport has ever had.

“I hope to meet him as soon as possible. These are the important matches for my growth (as a player), the ones for which I say: I win or I learn. Djokovic will tell me where I am.”

“I felt closer this year in the semi-finals at Wimbledon, despite losing in three sets, than last year in the quarterfinals, when we fought for five,” he explained.

“I can’t wait. These are the matches I train for every day, the ones that fill me with pressure.”

Sinner will also be hoping that playing Djokovic in front of his home crowd in Italy, something he has never done before, will help him.

“Playing in Turin means a lot to me because I will live the experience with the home crowd,” he said.

“It’s a new mentality that I’m starting to get into. I like it when people get on my bandwagon. This is also why I want to do well in the Finals.”

ATP Finals draw – Who else does Novak Djokovic play?

Novak Djokovic and Jannik Sinner have been drawn together on Green Group alongside former winner Stefanos Tsitsipas and Holger Rune.

It’s certainly not an easy group but would you really expect one at the ATP Finals?

If anything, though, it probably is slightly kinder than the Red Group, which has debutant Carlos Alcaraz having to deal with two former champions in Daniil Medvedev and Alexander Zverev. Andrey Rublev completes the line-up in Red Group.

READ NEXT: ATP Finals 2023 Preview: When is it, who is playing and what is the prize money?

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Michael Graham, Tennishead.net Editor, has been a professional sports journalist for his whole career and is especially passionate about tennis. He's been the Editor of Tennishead.net for over 5 years and loves watching live tennis by visiting as many tournaments as possible. Michael specialises in writing in-depth features about the ATP & WTA tours.