Once again, Novak Djokovic was not at his best, he struggled again, had a set of minuses, but he fulfilled his mission - he defeated Andrej Rubljov 5:7, 7:6, 7:5 and reached the final of the Masters in Paris, and he has only two more victories to go. needed to finish the year as world number 1 for the eighth time.
The first tomorrow, in the final in "Berci" against Grigor Dimitrov, and the second at the ATP championship in Turin.
If he were to lose to the Bulgarian, who continued his excellent series of results and defeated Stefanos Tsitsipas 2:1 in sets, Djokovic would have to win at least 600 points in Piedmont, i.e. to reach the finals. This would also theoretically secure number 1, even if Carlos Alkaras takes the maximum 1.500 points...
In the 1st set, the players immediately exchanged breaks, and then there were no breaks until the 12th game, when Rubljev took away the rival's serve.
Djokovic did not shine, but in the 2nd set, when he served twice to stay in the match, he remained calm and then won 7:3 in the tie-break.
Then he first went to the toilet to change, then he got help from a physiotherapist, so the break lasted 12 and a half minutes.
He obviously liked it - in the 3rd set he was much more confident, easily winning games on his serve, and in the 4th game he had two tied break chances.
He didn't use them, that's why he did it in the 12th game - he took the lead again 40:15, and Rubljov didn't withstand the pressure, but gave the victory to his rival with a double service error. And broke the racket in anger...
Bonus video:
