The ATP Finals have a weird format, and it’s well known that losing a match or even two in the round-robin doesn’t mean a player cannot access the semifinals.
There is a rather peculiar situation in the green group. Jannik Sinner may benefit from losing his last match of the Round Robin against Holger Rune to eliminate Novak Djokovic. The Italian is well known for being extremely correct, and he will try his very best against the Danish player anyway. However, if he plays after Novak Djokovic, he can eliminate the world number one from the competition if he loses to Holger Rune, if there are some conditions.
Here are the different scenarios according to the tweet as below:
1. Regardless of the score, if DJOKOVIC defeats HURKACZ and SINNER defeats RUNE, then SINNER wins the group and DJOKOVIC qualifies 2nd.
2. Regardless of the score, if HURKACZ defeats DJOKOVIC and SINNER defeats RUNE, then SINNER wins the group and DJOKOVIC qualifies 2nd.
3. Regardless of the score, if HURKACZ defeats DJOKOVIC and RUNE defeats SINNER, then RUNE wins the group and SINNER qualifies 2nd.
4. If DJOKOVIC defeats HURKACZ in 2 sets and RUNE defeats SINNER in 2 sets, then RUNE wins the group and DJOKOVIC qualifies 2nd.
5. If DJOKOVIC defeats HURKACZ in 2 sets and RUNE defeats SINNER in 3 sets, then HURKACZ is eliminated and the order of remaining players is determined by % of games won.
6. If DJOKOVIC defeats HURKACZ in 3 sets and RUNE defeats SINNER in 2 sets, then RUNE wins the group and SINNER qualifies 2nd.
7. If DJOKOVIC defeats HURKACZ in 3 sets and RUNE defeats SINNER in 3 sets, then RUNE wins the group and SINNER qualifies 2nd.
Jannik Sinner in 2023
At the moment ranked no.4 (career-high), Jannik played his last match on the 14th of November when he defeated world no.1 Novak Djokovic 7-5 6-7(5) 7-6(2)
in the round robin in the Nitto ATP Finals (draw).Until now, during this year Jannik achieved a 59-14 match record. Sinner has won 4 titles in 2023 in Montpellier, Toronto, Beijing and Vienna. Sinner was the runner-up in Rotterdam and Miami.
Holger Rune in 2023
Now the world no.8, Rune played his last match on the 14th of November when he had to retire when playing against world no.6 Stefanos Tsitsipas in the round robin and the scoreline was 2-1 .
This year the Dane has a composed 44-23 record. This year, Rune clinched 1 title in Munich. The Dane was the runner-up in Monte-Carlo and Rome.
Jannik Sinner and Holger Rune fought against each other just 2 times. Their head to head is 2-0 for Rune. The last time they squared off, Holger Rune won 1-6 7-5 7-5 in the semifinal in Monte-Carlo (Monte) on the 15th of April 2023.
You can see them in action in the following highlights.
Novak Djokovic in 2023
Now ranked no.1, Djokovic played his last match on the 14th of November when he was defeated by world no.4 Jannik Sinner 7-5 6-7(5) 7-6(2) in the round robin in the Nitto ATP Finals (draw).
This year the Serbian has a 52-6 record. Novak conquered 6 titles in 2023 in Adelaide, Australian Open, French Open, Cincinnati, U.S. Open and Paris. Novak was the finalist in Wimbledon.
Jannik Sinner, Holger Rune and Novak Djokovic |
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