For Jannik Sinner, it was payback time, and for Novak Djokovic, it was agony, living through the harrowing experience of squandering three match points and losing.
Djokovic’s dream of guiding Serbia to a second Davis Cup title hit a brick Italian wall on Saturday, not once, but twice. After losing his first singles match in the competition since 2011, he could not master the decisive point in doubles.
But the drama of a doubles rubber to decide a thrilling tie was not needed had Djokovic taken one of three opportunities in the second semifinal. Already leading from their opening tie through Miomir Kecmanovic’s heroics again, the tie was on Djokovic’s racket to seal Serbia’s place in the final.
And against Sinner, whom Djokovic outclassed at the ATP Finals title match a week ago in Turin, it looked like a done deal. But when the margins are as thin as a razor blade, it is never an easy call. And that proved the case as it cut Djokovic.
Sinner with nerves of steel held serve from 4-5, 0-40 down in the third set. Djokovic has previously lost while holding match points, in fact, three times before this. But this is the very first time he held three consecutive match points on the trot and ended up on the losing side.
Luckily for Sinner, it was on his serve, and he had total control over what he needed to do to escape the situation. But will Djokovic live to rue on the first missed match point when he hit a sliced backhand long on a neutral point? Or on the third match point when the down-the-line shot looked makeable?
That might be a topic of discussion on another day, but for Sinner, holding serve under such pressure demonstrated the quality and conviction of his shot-making. He’ll have the chance to take his country past the finish line on Sunday against Australia.
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