World No. 7 Andrey Rublev will square off against the legendary Novak Djokovic in a round-robin encounter at the ATP Finals on Wednesday.
It has been a fruitful season for the Russian youngster. He captured the titles at the Open 13, the Dubai Tennis Championships, the Serbia Open, and the Gijon Open. Last year, he could not make it beyond the group stages in Turin, but this time, he has got a good start and he can build on it.
In his opening match of the campaign, the 25-year-old came back from a set down to defeat former world No. 1, Daniil Medvedev, 6-7 (7-9), 6-3, 7-6 (9-7). Rublev had to survive a barrage of aces from the 2021 US Open champion, who sent in 24 firebolts. However, Rublev had a marginally better win percentage on the first serve – 83% compared to 80% from Medvedev.
The seventh seed who just received the good news of being granted a visa to play in the 2023 Australian Open will look to end his season on a high. Djokovic has not been allowed to play in too many tournaments owing to his unvaccinated status but whenever he has played, he has shown his class. The Serbian superstar has won the Italian Open, Wimbledon, the Tel Aviv Open, and the Astana Open, this year.
Last year, Djokovic reached the semis in Turin. This year, he started his campaign against Stefanos Tsitsipas. He extended his impressive head-to-head score against Tsitsipas to 10-2, whilst picking up his ninth successive win against the Greek youngster. Djokovic won the match 6-4, 7-6 (7-4).
The two players have faced each other on a couple of occasions so far. The head-to-head is currently tied at 1-1. Rublev won their last encounter in the finals of the Serbia Open 6-2, 6-7, 6-0.
Prediction: Novak Djokovic to win in three sets.
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