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The 2021 ATP Review of the Year

Ubitennis.net reviews the highlights of the 2021 ATP Tour season.

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Novak Djokovic (SRB) serving against Matteo Berrettini (ITA) in the final of the Gentlemen's Singles on Centre Court at The Championships 2021. Held at The All England Lawn Tennis Club, Wimbledon. Day 13 Sunday 11/07/2021. Credit: AELTC/Ben Solomon
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Novak Djokovic dominated the first three Grand Slam tournaments at the Australian Open, Roland Garros and Wimbledon, but Danil Medvedev was crowned as a new Grand Slam champion at the US Open. Three players won a Masters 1000 title for the first time in their careers: Hubert Hurkacz in Miami, Stefanos Tsitsipas in Monte-Carlo and Cameron Norrie in Indian Wells. Meanwhile, Alexander Zverev won two Masters 1000 titles in Madrid and Cincinnati, as well as a Gold medal at the Tokyo Olympic Games. 

The ATP best player of the year: Novak Djokovic

Novak Djokovic won three Grand Slam titles at the Australian Open, Roland Garros and Wimbledon. He was also triumphant at his home tournament in Belgrade and at the Paris Bercy Masters 1000 tournament. He was awarded the year-end ATP Tour trophy by ATP Chairman Andrea Gaudenzi during the ATP Finals. 

Djokovic became the first player since legend Rod Laver in 1969 to win the Australian Open, Roland Garros and Wimbledon in the same year. He also became the fifth man in history to achieve the “Channel Slam”, by winning both the French Open and Wimbledon in the same Calendar Year. 

At Roland Garros Djokovic came back from two sets down to beat Stefanos Tsitsipas 6-7 (6-8) 2-6 6-3 6-2 6-4. Only five players before him in the Open Era had recovered from two sets down to win a Grand Slam final. Djokovic also became the first man to win all Grand Slam titles twice in the Open Era. 

“I could not be happier and more satisfied with this kind of scenario in the last 48 hours. It probably ranks at the top three all-time achievements and experiences that I had in my professional tennis career”, he said following his win at the French Open. 

Djokovic lost in the semifinals of the Olympic Games to eventual champion Alexander Zverev and to Pablo Carreno Busta in the bronze medal match. Later in the year, the Serbian star beat Matteo Berrettini in the quarter finals of the US Open in a re-match of the Wimbledon final. The World number 1 then avenged his defeat in the Olympic semifinal against Zverev in the semifinal. However, Djokovic lost to Danil Medvedev in straight sets in the New York final, ending his chances of winning the Grand Slam. 

At the Rolex Paris Masters Djokovic beat Hubert Hurkacz in the semifinal en route to the final, securing the year-end world number 1 ranking for the seventh time, breaking a tie with Pete Sampras. He avenged his US Open defeat to Medvedev to win his sixth title in Bercy and a record 37th Masters 1000 title, breaking the tie with Rafael Nadal. 

Djokovic was pursuing a record-tying sixth Nitto ATP Finals in Turin, but he lost to Zverev in the semifinal, after winning all three matches in the round robin group.  

“It feels amazing and it feels even better when you win a match and then you get your hands on the trophy that I have been blessed to lift seven times. I have one more than Pete Sampras, who was my childhood hero. He was the one that got me into tennis. He was also an inspiration to me and I dreamt of being a Wimbledon champion and world number 1 like he was”, said Djokovic. 

The Master of the Year 

Alexander Zverev

Alexander Zverev at the 2021 Nitto ATP Finals (Credit: @atptour on Twitter)

Alexander Zverev crowned a perfect season by winning the Nitto ATP Finals for the second time in his career in Turin after a 6-4 6-4 win over defending champion Danil Medvedev. The German player beat Djokovic in three sets in the semifinal and Medvedev in the championship match, becoming just the fourth player in ATP Finals history to beat the top 2 players in the semifinal and the final in the same edition. In the Turin final Zverev repeated his 2018 feat of overturning a defeat in the round robin group against the player he faced in the final.

“It was great. I won the Nitto ATP Finals, against someone I had lost five times in a row, so I had to play one of my best matches. It is special, and I am thrilled and happy right now. There is no better now. There is no better way to end the season than winning here”, said Zverev. 

The German also won the Olympic singles gold medal by beating Karen Khachanov in Tokyo. He went a set and a break down against Djokovic in the semifinal but rallied to break back and won eight consecutive games en route to winning the match in straight sets. 

At Masters 1000 level Zverev won two titles at the Madrid Mutua Open beating Matteo Berrettini and at the Western and Southern Open in Cincinnati beating Andrey Rublev. He also claimed two ATP 500 titles in Acapulco and Vienna. 

Zverev is the first German player to finish in the top 3 since Boris Boris in 1994. 

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Alcaraz Halts Sinner’s Winning Streak To Reach The Final In Indian Wells

Carlos Alcaraz earns the right to defend his title at the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells fending off Jannik Sinner’s assault to his ATP no. 2 spot

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Jannik Sinner (left) and Carlos Alcaraz (right) - Indian Wells 2024 (photo Twitter X @BNPPARIBASOPEN)

All good things come to an end. Jannik Sinner was on a 19-match winning streak since his loss to Novak Djokovic in the final of the Nitto ATP Finals that included his first Grand Slam win in Australia last January, and appeared as the most in-form player at the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells, the first Masters 1000 tournament of the season. But as he faced Carlos Alcaraz in an eagerly-awaited semifinal, he was unable to continue his quest for the third consecutive title of the season, succumbing to the Spaniard 1-6, 6-3, 6-2.

The match was a face-off for the no. 2 spot in the ATP ranking that Alcaraz will still occupy next Monday regardless of the result of Sunday’s final, and this is a much-needed confidence boost for him after a disappointing start of the season where he was handily beaten in the quarterfinals of the Australian Open by Zverev and did not win any tournament during the South American clay court swing where he was ousted by Nicolas Jarry in Buenos Aires and had to retire for an ankle injury at the Rio Open.

The match, originally scheduled for 1.30 pm Pacific Time, had to be suspended for over three hours after only three games because of an unusual downpour. As the match resumed, Sinner appeared once again the perfectly-tuned machine that had been crushing opponents with metronomic regularity for the past weeks while Alcaraz was struggling to keep up with his opponent’s pace from the baseline.

The first set was smooth sailing for the Italian who cruised to a comprehensive 6-1 in 27 minutes: Alcaraz was tentative from the baseline and could not find the right position to fire his screamers and change the tactical discourse of the match. “Then at the beginning of the second set, as I saw he was making a lot of mistakes, I tried to be as solid as possible when I should have kept pushing instead – Sinner said during his press conference – and that’s what cost me the match in the end”.

While serving at 1-2 in the second set, a few uncharacteristic forehand mistakes started to dot his thus far spotless game, and that cost him the break that sent Alcaraz flying to a 4-1 advantage. The Spaniard then found the confidence to change his return position and make Sinner work a lot more on his service games, as the Italian struggled to find a countermeasure to the tactical shift in the match: “I kept doing the same thing over and over again”, Sinner stressed, and forehand unforced errors started to pile up to reach the burdensome number of 27 at the end of the match.

Sinner had the chance to find his way back into the second set while Alcaraz was serving at 3-5, but Carlos cancelled his break point with a laser backhand down the line that had the 15,000-strong crowd cheering on their feet.

The third set ran away very quickly from the Italian, who started touching repeatedly the back of his left leg around his knee. Sinner got broken again during the third game, and while going for a last-ditch attempt to recover a short volley by Alcaraz he tumbled to the ground slightly injuring his right elbow and arm. From there onwards it was just more mistakes by Sinner and a clinical execution by Alcaraz on how to take home a match.

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“It Feels Great’ – Novak Djokovic Marks Indian Wells Return With Milestone Win

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Novak Djokovic - Indian Wells 2024 (foto Ubitennis)

Novak Djokovic says he still has a ‘great feeling’ in Indian Wells after playing his first match at the event for five years. 

The world No.1 battled to a 6-2, 5-7, 6-3, win over Aleksandar Vukic in what was his first taste of competitive tennis since losing in the semi-finals of the Australian Open. It was a far from smooth encounter for Djokovic, who hit 23 winners and won 83% of his first service points. In the second set, he was broken twice with the second of those occurring when he was serving at 5-6. Nevertheless, he battled back in the decider to win. 

This year is the first time Djokovic has been able to play in the Masters 1000 event since 2019 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. After the 2020 tournament was cancelled, he was unable to play the next three editions due to restrictions placed on unvaccinated foreign visitors to America. Despite the absence, the five-time champion states that his love for the event is as strong as ever.

“It feels great to come back with the win. It’s been five years and the great feeling is still there. I enjoyed myself very much. Beautiful stadium. Great atmosphere.” Djokovic said during his press conference. 
“I was a bit nervous at the beginning. I haven’t played a match in more than five weeks. I thought the start was good. Then I think he upped his game.
“I probably lost a little bit of the momentum. We got into the third set, I thought the level of the tennis was pretty good in the third. Great points. He made me produce some really important points in games in order to prevail in this match. I’m glad that I was pushed, as well, which is important.”

Djokovic’s latest victory is his 400th in a Masters 1000 tournament. He is only the second player in history to have reached this milestone since the tournament category was introduced in 1990. The first to do so was Rafael Nadal who currently has 406 wins to his name. 

He could create more history in Indian Wells should the Serbian go on to claim the title this year. If he does, he would become the first man to have won it for a sixth time. Although Djokovic is refusing to get too far ahead of himself. 

“I would love to,” he said of trying to claim a sixth title. “Obviously there is still a long way to get to the title match, but it’s a good start.’
“I know I can always produce better tennis. Obviously very self-critical, and I think some extent it’s also important because then it puts you in the right mindset of wanting to work more and being engaged in the process of improving on a daily basis, or trying to perfect your game and right the wrongs that you’ve done in a previous match or previous practice session.
“So that’s what I’m going to keep doing and hopefully building my game as this tournament is played over 10 to 14 days, so it allows you to have the practice days also between matches, which then allows you to work on certain specifics in the game.”

Djokovic will play Italy’s Luca Nardi in the next round. 

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Carlos Alcaraz Brushes Aside Injury Doubts To Reach Indian Wells Third Round

Carlos Alcaraz is into the third round at Indian Wells after a three set win over Matteo Arnaldi.

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(@BNPPARIBASOPEN - Twitter)

Defending champion Carlos Alcaraz overcame injury doubts to edge past Matteo Arnaldi 6-7(5) 6-0 6-1 at Indian Wells.

The world number two had to endure an aggressive opening set from the in-form Italian to reach the third round.

After a tight opening set, Alcaraz raced through the last two sets as he set up a third round showdown with Felix Auger-Aliassime.

The Spaniard had entered this match with injury doubts after retiring from his match with Thiago Monteiro in Rio De Janeiro.

However Alcaraz was very pleased with how his ankle held up as he moved on in California, “Honestly it surprised me. I felt great, moving normally without thinking about it,” Alcaraz told the ATP website.

“It was a really good match to realise that I am better than I thought. I think I played great tennis because of that. I had to change just a few things. I made a few mistakes in the first set… I had to put in more first serves in the second and third set, and I think that was a big key to improving my level a little bit, to be in the rallies — long rallies as well, to get the rhythm, and I’m really happy to get it at the end.

“But right now I’m getting better and feeling really, really well. But I think I have to get a good rhythm step by step. I think that’s the big difference between last year and this one. This [is a] really special tournament for me. I want to do it well. This is the first match playing high intensity and I didn’t know how it’s going respond, the ankle.

“I have to deal with it, but I didn’t deal with the nerves very well in the first set, moving differently, hitting the ball differently. My game is playing aggressive all the time. And try to stay calm and wait for my chances.

“When you get nervous, you don’t think about it. You don’t hit the ball as good as you want. You don’t move as good as you want. I think that’s the big difference.”

Alcaraz will hope for a good week this week as he defends the Indian Wells title as he aims to win a first title since Wimbledon this week.

Next for the Spaniard will be Felix Auger-Aliassime, who defeated Constant Lestienne in straight sets.

Auger-Aliassime currently leads the head-to-head 3-1 but Alcaraz won their last meeting in Indian Wells last year.

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