At the Astana Open, Novak Djokovic takes it all. The Belgrade-born tennis player won his second consecutive title after his success in Tel Aviv. On Kazakh soil, the former world number one beat Stefanos Tsitsipas in a controlled final from the start, giving up little or nothing: 6-3 and 6-4 was the final result of the 500-point tournament in favor of the Serbian, who won the 90th title of his career.
In fifteen days, therefore, the new champion of the Astana Open won a total of 750 points: first the 250 from the success in Israel against Cilic, and then the 500 from the Nur-Sultan tournament. Thanks to these points, the twenty-one times Slam champion ascends to the tenth position of the Race: 2720 are the total points that he has obtained; leaving out Wimbledon, which did not award anything due to the ATP’s decision.
Despite the British loot, which this year’s winner lacks, Novak Djokovic is officially qualified for the Nitto ATP Finals in Turin: it is the second time that the Serbian has come to Turin to play the last tournament of the season, which will decide who will be the Grand Master of this 2022.
Novak Djokovic’s qualification for the finals goes through an ATP rule related to Slam winners. In fact, the eighth place would be reserved for a player, winner of a Grand Slam title in the year, if he stays between ninth and twentieth position in the Race.
With the victory in Astana, the winner of the last Wimbledon would be mathematically among the twenty best players of the year. Therefore, the former number one in the world will be able to return to Turin. In Italy, Djokovic will have the great objective of winning his sixth title in the Finals and snatching the record of victories in the last Masters 1000, currently held by Roger Federer.
However, big names stand in the Serb’s way to victory: alongside him, mathematically qualified for Turin are Carlos Alcaraz, Rafael Nadal, Casper Ruud and Astana Open finalist Stefanos Tsitsipas.
Lapierre praises Djokovic
Eugene Lapierre has hailed Novak Djokovic as the quintessential entertainer on the court.
“The nickname ‘Djoker’ which Serbian Novak Djokovic inherited very early in his career suits him perfectly. He always wants to please the public in different ways. He dances with the ball hunters on the field,” he said.
Lapierre narrated an incident when Djokovic asked for a ‘segway’ to move around, but there wasn’t one around. “At one point he asked me if we could get him a Segway (a small two-wheeled vehicle), so he could get around the site .
We couldn’t find any, and anyway, his agent said, “Never!” He is very nice to everyone. He is a teaser, who always wants to make people laugh,” he recalled.
