The 2023 tennis season came to an end last week with the completion of the ATP Finals Tournament, held on the fast indoor courts at Turin. There are a number of things about this tournament which make it unusual, if not unique. For many years, the top eight players on the men’s tour have vied for this coveted trophy, unofficially crowning the year’s best player, though not necessarily the year-end number one. Unlike the four “Majors,” sometimes misnamed “Grand Slams,”this tournament is best of three sets. But here’s the catch: because it’s a round-robin format split into two draws of four men each, you could wind up having to play the same person twice. Given the exclusivity of the draw, the competition starts out tougher than any major. Novak Djokovic, reigning world number one, had to win his first match against Holger Rune in order in clinch the year-end number one position, a record he already holds. That said, he was currently tied with the great Roger Federer for having won the most of these ATP Finals at six. These are extremely difficult to win, even once. For example, the great “King of Clay,” Rafael Nadal, has never won it. In the 53 years since its inception in 1970 only 25 men have hoisted this trophy, and only 10 have won it more than once. In fairness, because it is played at the end of the year, it has always been indoors and on a fast surface due to the coldness of the weather. While clearly, it could be played elsewhere in warmer climes, it could still have been played on clay (or even grass) but hasn’t been. Arguably, it’s the hardest tournament to win, which explains the relative paucity of repeaters.
It also stands out—in a negative way—by still requiring lines-people, despite the availability of computerized line calls. One other anomaly is its peculiar scoring system. After each contestant plays three matches within his group, the top two players then play runners-up in the in the semifinals and the winners play in the final. Yannik Sinner won the first two matches in his group (including a tight three-setter against Djokovic), had already clinched a berth in the semifinals, and was playing the young Dane, Holger Rune, who had earlier lost to Djokovic in a three-setter. Although Djokovic had a 2 and 1 record, if Rune were to have beaten Sinner, Rune, and Sinner would also have been 2 and 1. But, even though Djokovic would have been in a three-way won and loss tie, in such a case the rules look to winning percentage. Because all of Djokovic’s matches went to three sets, his record would be 5 sets won and 4 sets lost (55.5 %), versus Rune at 5 and 3 (62.5%) and Sinner, at 4 and 3, (57.14%.) And so, if Sinner, who was nursing a strained back had wanted to avoid the possibility of having to play Djokovic again, he could have tanked the Rune match. Instead, by edging Rune in three sets, let the Joker back-door his way onto the semis. Under the tournament format, the top player in each group (Sinner and Alcaraz) would meet the second place people in each group (Medvedev and Djokovic). Sound complicated? It could have been worse. If there had been a dead heat for sets won, they would have then looked for games won. Fortunately, such was not the case. As it turned out, the semis involved the four top seeds—and players. While Sinner won handily over Medvedev, the Djokovic-Alcaraz semi, expected to be a battle, was over in 2 sets. At an hour and 28 minutes, it was shorter than one of their sets at their classic final at Cincinnati. Djokovic was dominant against the world number two, beating Alcaraz 6-3 and 6-2. Amazingly, Alcaraz served at an 85% first serve rate and still lost. Says something about Djokovic as a returner, something already well known to followers of the men’s game. In what is often called the “all important 7th game,”Alcaraz, already down a break, was trying to keep it close. After falling behind 15-40, Alcaraz made it 30-40, needing one point to level the score at Deuce. What followed, as happens so often with these two superb competitors, was truly a point for the ages. Speaking of ages, one of the Tennis Channel commentators observed that the difference between the ages of Djokovic’s young son and Alcaraz is less than the difference between Alcaraz and Djokovic. Now there’s an unusual stat! But back to the rally. Not only did it go over 20 shots, but several exchanges would have been winners against virtually anyone else. Finally, incredibly, an Alcaraz return went long, causing Djokovic to raise both arms in celebration of the match which was now, almost surely his, something which turned out to be the case a few minutes later. The tempestuous Nick Kyrgios, who had joined the excellent commentating team headed by Jim Courier and Bret Haber, turned out to be a fine “color” commentator in his own right; articulate and insightful. After the point which gave Djokovic a commanding 5-2 lead, an astonished Kyrgios exclaimed, “Best player to ever touch a racquet,” followed by “the best to ever walk the earth.” No faint praise, that!
It seems, these days, that when Djokovic and Alcaraz meet in a semi-final, the final seems anticlimactic. But such was not the case here. Yannik Sinner, the young Italian superstar, is just a year older than Alcaraz, and—except for not yet having won a major— every bit his equal. He had already beaten Djokovic in a tight three-setter in the second round and, though it is a daunting task to do it twice in a row, he had done so at Indian Wells and Miami. Accordingly, he is a tough young man to ever bet against. Let’s not forget him having bested Daniil Medvedev in the semis, a man arguably the best hard court player in the game.
Whatever the betting line, few would have predicted a straight set win by Djokovic, especially given the struggle of their first match. The first set was nothing short of a clinic by Djokovic. Serving at over 80% and playing virtually error-free tennis, Djokovic cruised to a quick 6-3 win. The second set saw Djokovic’s level drop a bit, but he still continued to dominate on serve while Sinner struggled to hold. Up 2-4 with Sinner serving, Djokovic was up 15-40 only to see the young Italian bring it up to deuce. What followed were multiple deuces, with beautiful points alternating with unforced errors on both sides. Finally, after almost 16 minutes (some sets don’t take that long), Sinner won, but that was all she wrote. Djokovic, after blowing a sitter at net and being unable to handle a power forehand from Sinner, found himself at love-thirty, with Sinner two points from squaring the set at 4-all. A suddenly refocused Djokovic got the score even and held on to win on his second game point. Sinner, serving to stay in the match could not do so. The match ended with a Sinner double-fault, as they say, “not with a bang but a whimper. One remarkable statistic showed, at one point, Djokovic having only served 38 times against Sinner’s 68. A 30 serve imbalance shows just how dominant the Serb was. But Sinner is very young and already a great player. Not that you heard it first here, but he is a future world number one, with many majors likely coming his way.
At the end of the day, and season, it is yet another remarkable achievement by the seemingly ageless, Djokovic, playing—at 36–as well as he ever has. Think of it, winning three majors (for the fourth time) and losing just the one in a five-set thriller to Alcaraz in the Wimbledon final . While this might have dampened a lesser man’s ability to bounce back, Djokovic’s victory over Alcaraz at Cincinnati in an almost four-hour two out of three set match—two and a half times longer than his semi-final win—showed how truly indomitable his spirit it. Although the Alcaraz/Djokovic rivalry is a new one, and will never approach in length or importance his contests with former GOATs Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal, it will certainly equal them in intensity. An argument could be made that now is this perfect time for Djokovic to retire. Here he is, at the top of his game, coming off of one of the best seasons any player has ever has, and punctuating it with straight-set wins over two of his closest rivals. He would clearly be making a statement. But that, of course, is not Novak Djokovic. He has already said he wants to play Nadal once more, and believes he has more major titles ahead of him. Be that as it may, while record books are never truly closed, if he never played another tennis match again, his record is secure. Ladies and gentlemen, we have a winner, and his name is Novak Djokovic. He may not play with the timeless elegance of a Federer or the muscular resolve of a Nadal, but somehow he manages to beat them at their own game.
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