Novak Djokovic advances to ATP Finals semi-finals after Jannik Sinner's win

Jannik Sinner did Novak Djokovic a huge favour when he defeated Holger Rune at the ATP Finals on Thursday night.

The world number one was left waiting to find out whether he had made it after defeating Hubert Hurkacz 7-6(1) 4-6 6-1 in the afternoon match.

The scoreline guaranteed Sinner a place in the semi-finals – the first Italian to do so at the prestigious tournament – and meant any win for Rune would be enough to put him through ahead of defending champion Djokovic.

However, Sinner again proved just too strong on home soil in Turin, following up his brilliant victory over Djokovic on Tuesday with a 6-2 5-7 6-4 win against the young Dane.

Sinner was untouchable at the start, winning the opening four games before Rune got into the match.

The second set was much tighter and there were physical concerns for both men, with Rune calling the trainer to have strapping applied under his right knee before Sinner appeared to tweak his back.

When Sinner dropped serve to lose the second set, the contest was fully in the balance and it remained that way through the decider until the fourth seed broke through to lead 5-4 and served out a first career win over Rune.

Hurkacz replaced the injured Stefanos Tsitsipas and knew going into his clash against Djokovic that he was not able to progress but, with 200 ranking points and more than £300,000 in prize money on the table, there was still plenty to play for.

A very tight first set went the way of Djokovic thanks to a flawless tie-break, but Hurkacz, who had lost all six previous matches against the Serbian, broke serve in the fifth game of the second and held his advantage to level the match before his opponent dominated the decider.

Afterwards he insisted he was ready to accept whatever came, telling reporters in Turin of Sinner: "No, I will not be his fan. If he wins, I'll qualify. If he doesn't, I'll still finish the season with a win and look to Davis Cup. That's all I feel now."

Djokovic, meanwhile, welcomed the positive update from Rafael Nadal regarding his fitness.

The Spaniard has been sidelined for almost a year after suffering a hip injury at the Australian Open and his future had appeared in the balance.

Nadal confirmed on Wednesday he will return next season, and Djokovic said: "He's a big warrior. He's somebody that really never gives up.

"With all the injuries that he had, keeps going. That's definitely something that you have to respect and admire about him and his spirit. For the world of tennis, no doubt that it's amazing news that he’ll be back."

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