When Jannik Sinner and Novak Djokovic play (again) and why it’s a match not to be missed

If Carlos Alcaraz had reached the final we would perhaps have written once again that we had the future match ahead of us and instead in the final at the ATP Finals Novak Djokovic is against Jannik Sinner and then this becomes the final of the present which confronts a huge past and a huge future, but above all it is here and now. Jannik Sinner beat the world number one for the first time just five days ago, in three very tough sets, in the round of the ATP Finals in Turin. The Serbian, already a six-time winner in the masters tournament, is unlikely to be put out twice. For these and many other reasons you cannot miss the final of the tournament which closes the season and crowns the best of the year.

The reasons

Why beat Djokovic twice in one week would be a titanic undertaking.

Because Djokovic will sell his skin very dearly and for this reason it will be one beautiful match.

Why ever a Italian he had come this far, up to the final of the tournament which is halfway between a thousand and the Slams and awards 1500 points to the winner. Imagine going further.

Why the public of Turin, among carrots, flags and signs, deserves a great show and the same goes for those at home.

Because we’re really sure that you have nothing better to do on this late autumn afternoon than watch a game that will make it anyway history: the first Italian to win in 53 years of Finals or the seventh triumph, an absolute record, of the number one in the world.

Because how can you not cheer for a 22 year old boy who says the pressure comes from a surgeon who saves lives, not him. That he doesn’t know boredom, that he doesn’t even think about betting from afar, that when he’s free he goes home to Val Pusteria. «I dedicate my life to tennis. There’s a lot of work behind it, but now I’m also having fun. I see that with work I can achieve important goals.”

Because Jannik Sinner tells the beauty of a whole village whose greatest skier came from the Bolognese plain and who makes you a wonderful tennis player from the valleys of Alto Adige.

Because perhaps in the end we will still have to say, paraphrasing the joke according to which football is a sport in which you play 11 against 11 for two halves and more and then Germany always wins, that tennis is a sport in which you play for hours and then a Serb always wins. But it will have been Beautiful the same.

Where to see it on TV

For all these reasons the TV is on. The two will take to the field at 6pm at the PalaAlpitour in Turin for the final of the Nitto ATP Finals. The match will be broadcast by Sky Sport on Sky Sport Uno and Sky Sport Tennis with commentary by Paolo Bertolucci and Elena Pero and links before and after the match from the PalaAlpitour studio, as well as on Raidue with commentary by Adriano Panatta. Streaming on Rai Play, Sky Go and Now.