“Djokovic killed our dream.” Even the Italian stands collapsed before Novak’s greatness
Andrey Pankov November 20, 2023, 09:00 Moscow time Audio version: Your browser does not support the audio element.
In the decisive match, the crowd did not help Sinner. She also lost the final.
Novak Djokovic once again proved to everyone the obvious: he is the best tennis player in the history of this sport. The best in the world to ever touch a racket, as Nick Kyrgios said the other day. In the final of the Final Tournament, Djokovic rode Jannik Sinner, giving up only eight points on his serve in two sets.
In Turin, of course, they were waiting for this final. In the city center, Sinner’s name could already be heard in almost every cafe in the morning. The Italians hoped their hero would complete the fairy tale that began this week with victory. The lines before entering the arena were huge, and at the main Yannick fan club, the Carrota boys dressed as formally as possible for the final occasion.
Before the start of the match, the audience in the stands was filled with ecstasy. The Italians greeted Yannick powerfully, and then the classic began: “Ole, Ole Ole! Sinner, sinner! Everyone was confident in Sinner’s victory. None of the Italian fans I spoke to before the match said Djokovic was the winner.
But Novak had other plans. From the first game he felt the advantage and increased it monotonously. And the stronger and more precise Novak played, the quieter the crowd in the arena became. At one point, when Sinner seemed completely helpless, Serbian fans shouted at 16 thousand Italians. The crowd only erupted twice in the entire match: in the second set, when Yannick reached break points, which Novak brilliantly returned with his first serve.
It turned out that in the most important match of the week, the stands could not give energy to their idol, and Yannick himself could not do anything to oppose the Novak ideal.
The stands were proud of Sinner, but people left the arena in a bad mood. “Novak is the one who killed our dream, but he is legendary and Yannick still has to grow and grow up to him,” one of the Carrota Boys members told me after the game. And it’s hard to argue with that. At 36 years old, Novak has had one of the best seasons of his career and remains motivated for next year.
Novak Djokovic
Tennis player
“The motivation, especially in the most important sports tournaments, is still there. It still inspires me to keep going. At the end of the day, people see you perform in big tournaments, but they don’t see the weeks and months of dedicated work every day, every week, trying to develop your form so you can reach the highest level where you need it. For me, it’s obviously the Grand Slams and the World Tour finals and, hopefully, next year the Olympics.”
Novak Djokovic is the best tennis player in history. And this is an indisputable fact.
