Tournaments to end of season 2023

First topic message reminder :

Still plenty of big tournaments left this year, with some of the big boys back on court for the Asian swing. Alcaraz and Medvedev head the field in Beijing, with Murray having a tough opener v De Minaur.

Following GB's heroics in the Davis Cup, the circus moved eastwards, with Khachanov and Zverev taking titles this week, Zverev coming back from a set and a break down to pip Safiullin.

There could be quite a battle for the year-end number one. Djoko leads at present but will have a lot of points to defend right at the end of the year.

In any event, you can envisage Alcaraz getting back to the top after the Australia in Jan as he missed Melbourne this year, while Djoko won it and can't gain any points in the 2024 version.

The women's numero uno battle is between Sabalenka and Swiatek, with the Pole having an opportunity to get closer this week as she will be favourite to win a 500-pointer in Tokyo (although as I write she's 3-1 down in the first set of her opener).

Tsitsipas retires after just 3 games to concede the match to Rune. Glad I didnt have a ticket for that match !! Wonder what happens now, apparently Rune gets given the win. A shame they couldnt bring in an alternate player to play the match instead given only 3 games had been completed. Imagine Rune was to go on and quality from group if he only ends up winning one match. Will of course depend on how he gets on against Sinner. Presumably this means whoever wins tonights match of Sinner vs Djokovic is then into semi finals

Sinner finally get the better of Djoko after three hours and three tight sets.

Djoko was broken from 40-love up at the end of the first set to hand the set to the Italian who was taken to a third in which he led 4-2 before Novak recovered to take it to a tiebreak.

But Sinner won the breaker 7-2 with the Italian crowd going crazy. Apparently the Rune win over Tsitsipas goes down as a straight-sets victory.

As far as I can see if Sinner and Djoko win their final matches then they qualify for the semis. Anything else, though, will depend on sets won and, possibly even, the number of games won. On sets won so far Sinner is 4-1, Djoko 3-3 and Rune 3-2.

Unless my maths is wrong, you could get a scenario where each of the three end up with a sets-won ratio of 5-3. Some times you need a slide rule for these round-robin encounters.

Alcaraz finally chalked up a win, beating Rublev in straight sets. If Zverev beats Medvedev tonight he'll be thru to the semis.

Apparently Zverev had his chances to take the first set but Medvedev sneaked it and went on to win in straight sets which was good enough to make hi the first to be thru to the semis.

Nothing certain about today's matches except if Sinner wins he'll be in the semis. There's a chance that Djoko could win and still go out. A Rune win would make things very interesting.

Good news for Rafa fans is that the man himself has said he's definitely going to play again, although he's not put a date on the comeback.

Djokovic wins in three against Hurkacz. If Rune beats Sinner and he has a 2-0 H2H against Sinner, then Djokovic will be out of the tournament.

Will ve interesting to see if Sinner hands the win to Rune, you could see why he would to put Djokovic out. Its a bit of a farcical situation but caused by Tsitsipas pulling out after 3 games vs Rune. Hurkasz in current form much better than Tsitsipas so Rune kind of got a double win there, straight sets win from hardly playing and also avoiding Hurkasz who is much more in form. Mad to think Djokovic could go out after winning 2 out of 3 matches and his only loss being 7-6 in a decider set.

I would have Rune as favorite to beat Sinner.  However there seems to be a bit of a needle between the two so I am sure Sinner would like to get his first victory over Rune, although he is not going to injure himself over it.

ps: I have just found out that Tsitsipas withdrew due to a back injury. One can crick ones back due to an incomplete warm-up. One wondered whether he was carrying some sort of knock before the match and should have withdrew beforehand so that Hurkacz could have replaced him against Rune. However learning it was a back injury i can understand how this could have suddenly appeared early in a match.

Very surprised that Rune won previous meetings. I would consider Sinner a better player in almost all departments over Rune, also a bigger hitter. Don't get me wrong Rune a very good player but Sinner looks the more impressive player

6-2 5-7 6-4 in two and a half hours - Sinner overcomes Rune to win. Sinner goes through to the knockouts as group winner and Djokovic goes through as runner up.

Well done to Sinner, could easily have tanked that match but the best players don't. Even as a Djokovic fan I would be equally happy to see Sinner win the tournament, he is great to watch and playing superb tennis

So who will follow Djoko, Sinner and Med into the semis? I see from the various scenarios that Alcaraz goes thru with any sort of win today but Zverev will need Alcaraz to lose to advance.

Things will certainly not get any easiser for Med and his plus one as they will have to play either Djoko or a rampant Sinner in the semis.

Semi finals will be:

Sinner vs Medvedev
Djokovic vs Alcaraz

Fittingly, the top four - who have all enjoyed a good year - will now contest the semis.

We'll never know if it would have been a harder match for Alcaraz today had Medvedev still needed to win. Difficult to say which of them now has the "easier" semi.

It could be argued that Sinner, playing great and in front of a home crowd, is the tougher guy to play, although coming up against Djoko in a match like this is never going to be easy.

Zverev can temper his disappointment at not making the semis by reflecting that he's had a good, solid year, after his nasty injury in 2022.

After Zverev got his consolation win, we can look forward to the semis which feature, arguably, the strongest line-up for some time at one of these year-end thingies.

But just who will get thru to the final? If I was fence-sitting, I could make a case out for any of the four advancing. If anything, Sinner looks in the best form but if Medvedev plays well he's more than a match for anyone.

Djoko had a day off yesterday but has had some long matches. While I would make Sinner slight favourite against Med it really is a struggle to predict who will triumph in the Novak-Carlos clash.

Sinner thru to the final. There were two tight sets before the Italian rather ran away with it 6-1 in the decider.

Sinner has already beaten Djoko once in this tourney and may have to do it again. One thing is for sure. Neither Novak nor Carlos will have an easy time of it in the final.

Even as a Djokovic fan I would like to see Sinner win the tournament, he has been superb

6-3 6-2 Djokovic beats Alcaraz.    Djokovic turns 37 next year.   He won't get many more opportunities to take major titles.

The future will feature Alcaraz (20), Sinner (22), Rune (20) and Shelton (21).

Great win by Djokovic over Alcaraz..Sinner looks a man on a mission though

Not surprised that Djoko beat Alcaraz but a bit surprised it was so straightforward.

Despite Sinner's tremendous form, he may find Djoko a match too far despite what will undoubtedly be noisy support.

He's already beaten Novak in this tournament and it's asking a lot of him to do it twice. Still, the Italian is the man in form so anything's possible.

Alcaraz shouldn't be too down on himself and probably is realistic to look at the year as a whole and consider it's been another terrific 12 months.

Highlight, of course, was the stirring Wimbledon triumph, but it's been a solid season all round. He didn't play the 2023 AO so January in Melbourne is a chance to claw some points back from Djoko at the top.

Djoko took the title in straight sets to end what has been a phenomenal season for him.

For the first time for a while he was able to play all four Slams and came within a set of winning all four. Incredible.

He is still the man to beat and there seems no lessening of his powers. I would make him favourite at the AO in a couple of months time and I wouldn't bet against him chalking up at least two Slam triumphs in 2024.

The year ends with a firm top three with Sinner's exceptional late-season efforts putting him into a deserved number four berth.

Djokovic brought such a high level in the semis and the final..I really thought Sinner had a real chance today but for the first set and a half, Djokovic was simply unplayable

This ability of Djoko and, in earlier times, Rafa and Rog as well, to consistently raise their game for the business end of tournaments is incredible.

It's not something that the young contenders have been able to do on a regular basis. For example, Medvedev played a great match to beat Alcaraz in New York but couldn't come up with another outstanding performance in the final v Novak.

Similarly Sinner beat Djoko in the round-robin section last week and played well in other matches but was no match for Novak in the final.

Djoko is likely to stay at number one or number two for long periods (perhaps all?) of 2024 so the likes of Alcaraz, Sinner and Medvedev could well have to produce a sparkling display to beat each other and then find themselves facing the Serb in the title match.

Djoko's now on 98 title wins and Connors record of 109 looks well within reach.

sirfredperry wrote:This ability of Djoko and, in earlier times, Rafa and Rog as well, to consistently raise their game for the business end of tournaments is incredible.

It's not something that the young contenders have been able to do on a regular basis. For example, Medvedev played a great match to beat Alcaraz in New York but couldn't come up with another outstanding performance in the final v Novak.

Similarly Sinner beat Djoko in the round-robin section last week and played well in other matches but was no match for Novak in the final.

Djoko is likely to stay at number one or number two for long periods (perhaps all?) of 2024 so the likes of Alcaraz, Sinner and Medvedev could well have to produce a sparkling display to beat each other and then find themselves facing the Serb in the title match.

Djoko's now on 98 title wins and Connors record of 109 looks well within reach.

11 titles would be a lot to win in a single year, even for Djokovic - won 7 this year, although admitting he missed the early US hard court swing and had a clay season slightly troubled by injury concerns. So matching or bettering Connors record is likely to mean pushing into 2025. Whilst there are no signs of Novak calling it a day, no-one is entirely immune from the aging process, and as both Federer and Nadal have shown, injuries to older players tend to be more debilitating, so you can never be certain what is around the corner. At the moment, I'd reckon with about 75% certainty Djokovic will at least equal Connors number of titles (and no-one could put forward a credible argument that Djokovic's palmares of title wins isn't far stronger). Just another stat in a remarkable career.

After a Djoko-inspired win for Serbia v GB in the Davis Cup, Sinner has beaten Djoko for the second time in just a few days to haul Italy level at 1-1 v Serbia in the DC semi.

It's now all on the doubles to see who faces Australia in the final. Djoko won few friends with his reaction to the GB fans after his win v Norrie.

* Just found out that Sinner saved three MPs from 4-5, 0-40 down in the final set v Djoko. Novak has won so many matches from MP down but, apparently, it's the first time he's ever lost after having three consecutive MPs.

Italy came back from the dead and came thru to the DC final after they took the doubles and will now face Australia.

Quite extraordinary that Djoko failed to take any of the three MPs in the Sinner match. All those guys who have lost to Novak after having MPs must have had a quiet chuckle.

It's all added up to a somewhat strange end to an extraordinary year for Djoko. As for Sinner, beating the number one twice in just a few days will give him enormous confidence going into 2024.

Italy are just one set away from winning the DC. They took the first match today v Australia and now Sinner, playing great, is a set up against De Minaur.

It's live on the BBC I-player if you want to watch.

Sinner, looking absolutely unbelievable, ran away with that second set 6-0 to take Italy to only their second-ever DC.

You could see why Sinner had given Djoko so much trouble over the last few days, The Italian was constantly hitting the lines with all-out attacking tennis and yet making very few UEs.

The commentators were talking about how Djoko's Davis Cup win in 2010 propelled him to a sensational start to the 2011 season. Sinner may not be able to quite emulate that, but he certainly looks in great shape for 2024.

Sinner in amazing form. Really happy for him and Italy winning the Davis cup. I bet Sinner wishes the Australian open was on in a couple of weeks. Will be interesting to see can he sustain this really high level into early next year. The end of year can always be tricky to gauge because understandably a lot of the players are very tired, particularly the top players who are constantly reaching the latter stages of tournaments. I think the tennis calendar is probably too long running from January to nearly December. Tennis is a very gruelling sport physically.

If Sinner can bring this level into 2024, I can definitely see him winning a slam. The question is whether he can bring this level to slams and will he beat the likes of Djokovic in best of 5 sets!

slashermcguirk wrote:Sinner in amazing form. Really happy for him and Italy winning the Davis cup. I bet Sinner wishes the Australian open was on in a couple of weeks. Will be interesting to see can he sustain this really high level into early next year. The end of year can always be tricky to gauge because understandably a lot of the players are very tired, particularly the top players who are constantly reaching the latter stages of tournaments. I think the tennis calendar is probably too long running from January to nearly December. Tennis is a very gruelling sport physically.

If Sinner can bring this level into 2024, I can definitely see him winning a slam. The question is whether he can bring this level to slams and will he beat the likes of Djokovic in best of 5 sets!

I don't think you'll find much disagreement, from either the fans or the players. Have to be back up and running early January to be prepping for the first major of the season in late January. A slightly lull for a couple of weeks before the first US hard court masters in March, then no real break through clay, grass and hard to the USO in August / early September, then another quiet month until the late season MS events, ATP finals and Davis Cup finishing late November.

I'm amazed that most of the top players try to play essentially the whole season, especially when you consider the amount of travelling that's required.