Does the Djoker confirm his role as favourite?

Although he was not eligible to play in numerous Major tournaments in the 2022 calendar year – including the Australian Open and US Open – Novak Djokovic secured a place at the ATP Finals as world number eight.

Here in Turin, he could win another major title in 2022 after winning the Wimbledon Championships overall, but first has to get through a tough preliminary round group to do so.

In the Red Group, the Djoker faces three heavyweights in Daniil Medvedev, Andrey Rublev and opening opponent Stefanos Tsitsipas, against whom the Serb will look to continue his recent run. Nole has won 20 of his last 21 singles matches on the ATP Tour. Accordingly, there is a lot of value in betting on Stefanos Tsitsipas to win his opening match against Novak Djokovic at the Pala Alpitour.

Truly, Stefanos Tsitsipas had a good recipe against the Djoker at the start of his career, with the young Greek winning two of their first three meetings. However, the world number three has lost eight singles in a row against the Djoker – including all three meetings in the calendar year 2022. Consequently, our prediction for Stefanos Tsitsipas against Novak Djokovic is for an opening win for the Serb.

However, the in-form Greek will certainly know how to fight back, which is why we expect a close match, at the end of which the Djoker will have a win with only three or four games more to his name.

Stefanos Tsitsipas – Statistics & current form

Current world ranking: 3
Position in the seedings: 2

In the absence of injured world number one Carlos Alcaraz, Stefanos Tsitsipas, the current world number three, was given the honour of leading one of the two groups at the year-end tournament in Turin.

In the Red Group, however, the 24-year-old Greek had brutal bad luck. Not only did he draw Novak Djokovic, but also Daniil Medvedev, before Andrey Rublev completed the group of death. It will be correspondingly difficult for the Athenian to build on his greatest success to date, when he won the ATP Finals on debut in 2019.

Won 60 of 82 singles in 2022

The Greek’s tennis year went well overall nonetheless. Tsitsipas played a total of 82 rated singles on the ATP Tour, of which he won 60 matches. This brought him a total of seven appearances in the final, whereby he only won tournaments in Monte Carlo and Mallorca.

On two occasions, however, Novak Djokovic stood in the way of the 24-year-old, to whom he was beaten 2-0 in the grand final in Rome in May and in Astana in October. This gives the world number three a chance for revenge in the first group match of the ATP Finals.

Aparticularly in the last few weeks, consistency has been lacking

However, there were also low points in the Greek’s year. Especially in August, when Tsitsipas lost 2-0 to Borna Coric (ATP 152) in the final of the Western & Southern Open within a week and a half, before surprisingly losing 3-1 to Daniel Elahi Galan (ATP 94) in the first round of the US Open 2022.

The last few weeks have also not been very consistent for the Greek, who is therefore coming to the Pala Alpitour as a colourful surprise package. It is clear that he will have to make do with the underdog role against the overpowering Serb. In the case of Stefanos Tsitsipas against Novak Djokovic, the odds are clearly in favour of the Djoker.

Novak Djokovic – Statistics & Current Form

Current world ranking: 8
Position in the seedings: 7

Although the 35-year-old Serb Novak Djokovic has dominated the ATP Tour uninterruptedly in recent years, he has also caused controversy time and again. From his controversial Adriatic Tour two and a half years ago to his disqualification at the 2020 US Open.

This year, too, it has rarely been quiet around the former world number one, who, after a long dispute at the beginning of the year, was unable to compete at the Australian Open, which he recently won three times in a row, but was also left out of the US Open. Most recently, the focus was on his physio, who mixed secret drinks for the Serb in the stands in Paris.

No overall ATP Finals win in seven years

The Sunshine Double and all US Open Series tournaments also eluded the Djoker, who still managed to win 37 of the 44 singles he played on the ATP Tour in 2022. At the Wimbledon Championships, it was even enough for Grand Slam title number 21 for the Serbian superstar, who now naturally also wants to attack at the ATP Finals.

The Djoker last won the year-end tournament four times in a row between 2012 and 2015. Since then, however, he has failed to win the title in five further attempts. Only a year ago, the 35-year-old was beaten 2-1 by Alexander Zverev in the semi-finals here in Turin.

Won three of the last four tournaments

Currently, however, Novak Djokovic is bringing tremendous momentum with him. In his last four tournaments, the Serb won 20 out of 21 singles matches played. After winning three tournaments in a row, his streak only snapped last week at the Paris Masters with a 1-2 loss to Holger Rune in the final.

Before that, however, the Djoker was able to bring his current opening opponent from Greece to his knees in the semi-finals in Paris for the third time in 2022, which is why the betting on Stefanos Tsitsipas against Novak Djokovic that the Serb will also start with a win in the Red Group is under a very good star.

Stefanos Tsitsipas – Novak Djokovic Direct comparison / H2H record

Head to head: 2:9

Eleven times both athletes have faced each other so far and with nine wins the Djoker leads the direct comparison. Tsitsipas won two of his first three encounters with the Serb, but was then defeated eight times in a row, including three times in 2022.

Stefanos Tsitsipas – Novak Djokovic Tip

It was only a week and a half ago that the Serb defeated the young Greek 2:1 in the semifinals of the Paris Masters. It could be correspondingly close between the two athletes again now, whereby the prediction for Stefanos Tsitsipas against Novak Djokovic clearly goes to the Serb’s opening win. Not only has Nole won the last eight singles in a row against Tsitsipas, but he has also walked away victorious in 20 of 21 matches in his last four tournaments.

We are specifically betting that the Serb will win the opening game by three or four games in a close match in which a single break will probably be enough to win the set.