Winning the opening match of ATP Finals 2023, Novak Djokovic firmly holds the number one position in the world tennis village

Novak Djokovic continued to have a tough match against Holger Rune, however the world number one won to keep his hopes of successfully defending his ATP Finals title alive.

ATP Finals 2023: Thắng trận ra quân, Novak Djokovic vững vàng vị trí số một làng quần vợt thế giới

Novak Djokovic competes at the 2023 ATP Finals. (Source: Getty Images)

Djokovic plays Rune in their first match of the Blue Group, ATP Finals. Nine days ago, Djokovic defeated Rune in a tense three sets at the Paris Masters and the Serb continued to struggle, still having to play three sets in 3 hours and 6 minutes to win.

After a cautious first few service games, Rune broke to take a 3-2 lead but Djokovic quickly demanded a break in the next game.

The two players managed their next service games well and pushed the first set into a tie-break. Djokovic lost two mini-breaks, but Rune lost four of his six serves, allowing Djokovic to win 7-4.

The Danish player started well in set 2 when he broke to take a 2-0 lead, but Djokovic quickly erased his opponent's advantage again when he demanded a break in game 3. In game 10, Djokovic successfully saved a set point.

As the match continued to a tie-break, Rune played well, winning every point on his serve, Djokovic lost 3 mini breaks in 4 times he served, thereby Rune won 7-1.

Rune did not start well in the deciding set, Djokovic led 2-0 but the Serbian did not play well in the third game, allowing his opponent to break early. It seemed that Djokovic had some health problems, but the Serbian came back strong.

Rune made a mistake in the 6th game, allowing Djokovic to take a 4-2 lead. There was no chance for Rune to make amends as Djokovic dominated the next two service games, going straight to a 6-3 victory and ending the match.

With a win in his opening match at the ATP Finals, Djokovic is all but guaranteed to end the year as world number one. This will be the Serb's eighth year as world number one. Djokovic will also reach his 400th week as world number one when the ATP rankings are released on November 20.

With his 19th consecutive win, Djokovic and Jannik Sinner share the top spot in the Green Group. In the first match of the 2023 ATP Finals, Sinner defeated Stefanos Tsitsipas 6-4, 6-4.

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