On the hard court, Novak Djokovic has been one of the best players. The Serb has won the majority of his notable titles at Majors. ATP Finals, and Masters 1000 events on the most common surface. After Novak wins the first set in the hard-court ATP finals, he will have won 55 titles and lost only two finals.
Between Adelaide 2007. Canada 2016, Djokovic won the first set in 41 hard-court ATP finals. Winning all of them and continuing an incredible streak!
After winning the first set in a hard-court ATP final. Novak lost his first match, losing in sets two, three, and four against Stan Wawrinka at the 2016 US Open. Before Holger Rune ended it at the Paris Masters a few weeks ago. The Serb bounced back and won the next 13 finals from a setup. After Stan Wawrinka, the young Dane defeated Novak 3-6, 6-3, 7-5 in a hard-court ATP final to become the second player to do so.
The fourth-youngest winner of the Masters 1000 title was a teenager who defeated a six-time champion in two hours and 33 minutes. With three Masters 1000 victories under his belt, Holger arrived in Paris. He crushed five sequential top-10 adversaries to lift the prize and compose history books. Novak had a chance to close the deal and win the fight.
At the start of the second set, he had three break opportunities and lost a game point that could have put him 4-1 ahead in the decider. In addition, while trailing 6-5 in the final set, the Serb made one more push. He had six chances to break, but he wasted them to put the young player ahead.
After winning the opening match, Novak Djokovic lost in the Paris Masters final to Holger Rune.
Five more points were won by Djokovic, but not the crucial ones. Holger won the race by scoring on all three break points and eliminating ten of the twelve break opportunities he had. The Dane played aggressive tennis and made 33 unforced errors and 43 winners. Novak’s first serve was dominant, and he hit more service winners than Holger.
The youngster, on the other hand, returned in the long baseline exchanges. Controlling his strokes well, and remaining focused when it mattered most. In the first game, Novak missed the first shot by five points and beat Holger 3-1 in game four. The more experienced player enclosed up the set on his serve by game nine and made three break chances toward the beginning of the second.
After Novak’s loose forehand, Rune remained composed, denied them, and broke for the first time in the subsequent set. The Dane served well throughout the remainder of the set, winning game nine 6-3 with a hold at love to set up a decider after 80 minutes. After the opponent committed a double fault in the fourth game, Novak broke at 15 and had a chance to move 4-1 ahead in the next game.
Holger, on the other hand, extended that game with a backhand winner down the line. Brokeback with a forehand winner crosscourt for more drama. In game eight, Djokovic missed chances on the return and committed a forehand error in the 11th game to fall behind 6-5.
In the 12th game, Rune was responsible for the victory, which was a real roller coaster. One final push by Novak resulted in six break points that could have extended the battle. After struggling for 17 minutes, Rune saved them. Won the second match point to become the youngest Paris champion since Boris Becker in 1986!