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πŸŽΎβ€‹β€‹β€‹β€‹β€‹β€‹β€‹β€‹β€‹β€‹β€‹β€‹TENNIS Thread | Oct/Nov/Dec 2023 | ATP Finals πŸŽΎβ€‹β€‹


Husker

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Just the fifth Grand Slam final in the Open Era won by a player who was two sets down.

1974 French Open Borg d OrantesΒ 
1984 French Open, Lendl d McEnroeΒ 
1999 French Open, Agassi d MedvedevΒ 
2004 French Open, Gaudio d Coria

2020 US Open,Β 
@ThiemDomi
Β d. Zverev

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Novak Djokovic is already assured of moving into second place on the list of most weeks at world No.1 on Monday 21 September, the day the Internazionali BNL d’Italia concludes, but victory on the final day of the tournament will also see him clinch the record for most Masters-1000 titles.

Monday 21 September will be the Serb’s 287th week at the head of the rankings and will see him surpass Pete Sampras’ 286 weeks at the top. Roger Federer holds the record with 310 weeks as world No.1.

β€œPete was my childhood idol growing up, so of course surpassing his records is very special to me. I always looked up to him, and I wished to be mentally strong and resilient as he is, especially in the big tournaments, in the big moments. You know, he’s one of the mentally most composed and toughest players ever to hold a racquet,” said the world No.1.

β€œHim being a No. 1 in the world for so many weeks, you know, proves how tough he was. This is one of my two, I would say, biggest professional goals, you know, is to reach the record of, surpass Roger’s record for longest No. 1 and win as many slams as possible. I have been saying that before, so I’m working towards that. I’m at a good place right now, in a good position. Hopefully I can stay healthy and continue to play well.”

Djokovic won the title at Cincinnati last month to take his Masters-1000 title tally to 35 and equal Nadal at the top of the leaderboard. The Italian Open is the second of three Masters-1000 events to take place in 2020, the remaining one will be Paris in November.

Djokovic is back in action at the Foro Italico for the first time since he was defaulted in the fourth round at the US Open for unintentionally hitting a line judge with a ball.

β€œWell, of course it was a shock to finish the US Open in the way it was finished for me. First time in my career that something like this happens,” said the 17-time Grand Slam champion.

β€œThere was a lot of speculations and discussions whether it was deserved or not. I accepted it and moved on. I checked with Laura after the match. She said that she was fine. No big injuries. I felt really sorry to cause the shock and drama to her, because, you know, she didn’t deserve that in any way. She obviously is volunteering, as well, and doing her work.”

β€œSo I accepted it, and I had to move on. That’s what I did. Of course I did not forget about it. I don’t think I will ever forget about it, because it’s one of these things that stays in your memory for the rest of your life.”

Djokovic, a four-time Rome champion, will take on either qualifier Tennys Sandgren or wildcard Salvatore Caruso in his opening round match.

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In a pre-tournamentΒ press conferenceΒ for the Italian Open, Nadal congratulated β€˜hard-worker’ Dominic Thiem for his first Grand Slam title. Rafa said Thiem fully deserved the victory.

β€œHappy for Dominic if somebody deserves to win a big title is him. Super hard worker very focused on his goals, good person….that’s a good human and he deserves it,” Nadal said.

Nadal also appreciated Alexander Zverev for reaching the finals. And Rafa pointed out that Thiem’s journey to the finals was solid when compared to Zverev and so the Austrian deserved it.

β€œSorry for Sasha he was close but in some way, I think even if sash played a great final for a moment I think that the road to the final from Dominic a little bit solid so in some way, he deserved the title. But after so many years of hard work, Dominic deserves it.”

Rafa Nadal returns to the tour after skipping the US part of the resuming calender. Nadal had earlier withdrawn from the US Open given the pandemic situation in the US. Nadal has been practicing on the clay since the lockdowns were lifted. With the majority of the players coming from playing on the hardcourt, Nadal could be well ahead of them in terms of practice, but it will be interesting to see whether Nadal shows signs of rustiness as he plays his first match in 6 months.

As for Dominic Thiem, he has withdrawn from the Italian Open. He will fly straight to Paris to play in the French Open. The Austrian goes into the French Open as a Grand Slam champ and a two-time defending runner-up after losing consecutive finals to Nadal in 2018 and 2019. Thiem will be one of the few in prime position to challenge Rafa Nadal for the French Open.

Edited by Kiran Edara
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  • Husker changed the title to πŸŽΎβ€‹β€‹β€‹β€‹β€‹β€‹β€‹β€‹β€‹β€‹β€‹β€‹TENNIS Thread | Oct/Nov/Dec 2023 | ATP Finals πŸŽΎβ€‹β€‹

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