TURIN: World number one Novak Djokovic defeated Casper Ruud in his opening clash of the 2021 ATP Finals on Monday. The Serbian claimed a 7-6(4), 6-2 victory after surviving an early scare. Djokovic now has a win-loss record of 39-16 in the ATP Finals. He equaled the record of Lendl, who won as many matches in the tournament (39-10). The duo is now behind Swiss maestro Roger Federer (59).
On the other hand, Italian Matteo Berrettini's campaign began on an inauspicious note as the home star was forced to retire early in the second set of his match against Germany's Alexander Zverev due to an injury to his left oblique, in the Red Group of the elite eight-player tournament.
Tokyo Olympic Games gold medallist Zverev won a tightly-contested first set 7-6(7) in 79 minutes and led 1-0 in the second set when Berrettini was unable to continue late on Sunday night (IST). Following a medical timeout, the Italian attempted to continue, but after only one more point, he walked to the net to shake hands. Zverev climbed over the net to console him. Agencies
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