Two of the finest young guns on the ATP Tour will bring the curtain down on this year's ATP World Tour Finals Green group, as Turin favourite Jannik Sinner takes on Holger Rune on Thursday night.
Sinner emerged triumphant from a three-set spectacular with Novak Djokovic on Tuesday, while Rune was credited with a straight-sets win over Stefanos Tsitsipas, who retired from the competition with a back injury.
Match preview
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On the cusp of reaching the semi-finals on his second ATP Finals appearance - and his first as a direct qualifier - Sinner claimed arguably the headline victory of his career on Tuesday night, following up a comprehensive win over Tsitsipas with an astounding beating of the defending champion.
After three hours and nine minutes of unmissable round-robin action, Sinner sealed a 7-5 6-7[5] 7-6[2] victory over year-end world number one Djokovic with one final forehand smash at the net, and it was just reward for the Italian's phenomenal all-around display against his more esteemed foe.
A masterful returner himself, Djokovic often joined the Turin crowd in applause for Sinner as he sent an array of vicious cross-court shots out of his reach, while several delicate passing shots with Djokovic at the net also helped the 22-year-old on his way to a statement victory.
Owing to his maiden victory over Djokovic, Sinner - who came up with 15 aces and 37 winners on the day - leads the Green group standings with a perfect 2-0 record, but the job is not done just yet, as he still needs to sink Rune to confirm a spot in this year's semi-finals.
By denying Djokovic a 20th win on the trot, Sinner is now one triumph away from reaching 60 for the season and joins Carlos Alcaraz and Rafael Nadal as one of only three players to beat Djokovic in a third-set tie-breaker before the age of 23 - something which Rune was unable to achieve on his ATP Finals inauguration.
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History would unfortunately repeat itself for Rune against Djokovic on the opening matchday, as the Serbian had defeated his Scandinavian foe in three sets during the Paris Masters quarter-finals, despite losing a second-set tie-breaker.
Once again, Rune would force the reigning champion to do it the hard way in Turin, but the 20-year-old ran out of steam in the third set to fall to an opening year-end defeat, which he sought to rectify during Tuesday's showdown with Tsitsipas.
However, with Rune leading 2-1 at the first changeover of the match, Tsitsipas was forced to call it quits due to a back problem - which had plagued him since the warm-up - gifting Rune a straight-sets victory and an extended recuperation period ahead of Thursday's night session.
The 20-year-old's walkover victory is only good enough for third spot in the Green group, though - Djokovic's beating of Rune sees the Serbian hold second place for the time being - but the Dane could sneak into the semis should he sink Sinner and Djokovic go down to alternate Hubert Hurkacz.
While Rune is in with a fighting chance of making the knockouts by virtue of Tsitsipas's retirement, no player wants to win a match in such circumstances, which was coincidentally the case when he and Sinner first locked horns on the ATP Tour.
Tournament so far
Jannik Sinner:
Round robin: vs. Stefanos Tsitsipas 6-4 6-4
Round robin: vs. Novak Djokovic 7-5 6-7[5] 7-6[2]
Holger Rune:
Round robin: vs. Novak Djokovic 6-7[4] 7-6[1] 3-6
Round robin: vs. Stefanos Tsitsipas 2-1 ret.
Head To Head
Sofia Open (2022) - Semi-final: Rune wins 5-7 6-4 5-2 ret.
Monte Carlo Masters (2023) - Semi-final: Rune wins 1-6 7-5 7-5
With both Sinner and Rune still learning their trade on the circuit, it comes as little surprise to learn that Thursday's match will be only the third top-level meeting between the pair, who first did battle in last year's Sofia Open semi-finals in Bulgaria.
Rune was a game away from sealing a three-set triumph over Sinner, having overturned a 1-0 deficit to take control of the tie, and while the Dane did march onto the final, he did so in bittersweet circumstances as Sinner was forced to retire with an ankle injury.
A rehabilitated Sinner was on the path to redemption in April's Monte Carlo semi-finals, racing to a 6-1 first-set triumph, but Rune once again harnessed his comeback powers to reach the final at the end of a three-set thriller, before suffering defeat to Andrey Rublev in the championship match.
We say: Sinner to win in three sets
Sinner has been left to bemoan both physical and psychological collapses in his two previous battles with Rune, but Tuesday's incredible triumph over Djokovic surely justifies giving the home favourite the 'mentality monster' label ahead of Thursday's match with his well-rested counterpart.
An equally absorbing encounter should await the Turin crowd in the night session, but if Sinner can continue mixing up his unstoppable cross-court attempts with accurate drop shots, we can envisage the Italian claiming his first win against Rune to advance to the semi-finals with a 100% record.
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Ben Knapton
