Sometimes it’s the fumble that reels in audiences rather than the flight itself. That’s been the case for Novak Djokovic in 2021. The Serbian finished the season with a 27-1 record in majors.
He won titles at the Australian Open, Roland Garros and Wimbledon before Daniil Medvedev stopped the 34-year-old in the US Open final, at the doorstep of history. The blip then was the boom that resonated across the tennis landscape.
That loss on an autumn evening in New York not only heralded the change of guard, but it also cast a shadow on Djokovic’s dominance of the game. The world No.1’s record-breaking 37th Masters crown in Paris where he beat Medvedev in the final, securing the year-end No. 1 ranking for a seventh time, quelled the doubts momentarily.
Then when Djokovic dropped serve in the opening game of his Nitto ATP Final clash against debutant Casper Ruud on Monday there was a buzz around the Pala Alpitour. He had led 30-0 before Ruud won the next three points, the break of serve came after Djokovic slipped when he tried to get up to a lob. The match had begun and all eyes were on the five-time champion. The sport’s sharpest returner responded with a 7-6 (7-4), 6-2 result in 1 hour and 31 minutes in the Green Group outing.
The Serb, who last claimed the Brad Drewett trophy in 2015, after winning the season finale for the fourth consecutive year, struck in the sixth game when a looping forehand crosscourt winner gave him two chances to break. He needed only one.
Ruud, who started the year with a 16-27 career record on hard courts, entered the Turin season-ender with a 23-8 run on hard courts this season. He demonstrated the distance he had travelled on this surface in a tight tenth game, where he saved two set points.
The world No.8 ran Djokovic hard in the tie-break before the top-seed took the early advantage with a forehand down-the-line. Djokovic broke in the opening game of the second set and followed it up with a strong serving display, he won 35 of 39 points on his first serve.
“I recovered from that fall on that breakpoint in that first game,” Djokovic said. “It was very strange. I played a good forehand and came into the net and had a pretty comfortable overhead and I slipped, tripped, dropped my racquet and lost my serve. The conditions here are quite tough. If you lose your serve, it is difficult to get it back. I am very pleased with the way I handled the match.”
Heartbreak for Berrettini
Matteo Berrettini exited the opening day’s action in tears after being forced to retire early in the second set of his match against Alexander Zverev due to an abdominal injury (left oblique).
The German won a tightly contested first set 7-6 (7) in 79 minutes and led 1-0 in the second set when a gutted Berrettini shook his head, signaling that he was unable to continue after the first point in the second game.
The Italian world No.7 was sidelined for two months due to an abdominal injury he suffered at the Australian Open. The strapping 25-year-old was unsure if the injury which forced him to retire on Sunday was a recurrence of the old problem.
