Tennis: Djokovic soars, Medvedev annoys, Humbert is reborn… Our class council for the fourth quarter

CONGRATULATIONS

Who can stop it? Even having skipped the Asian tour, the Serbian once again splashed the quarter with his talent. Novak Djokovic is now only chasing big titles, and he is winning them. At the Rolex Paris Masters, his journey is less simple than in previous years. Tallon Griekspoor, Andrey Rublev and Holger Rune, his tormentor in the final last year, each took a set from him. But there is nothing to say in the final against the Bulgarian Grigor Dimitrov. The Serbian enters the Turin Masters assured of finishing the year world No. 1 if he wins a single match. He obviously did better, defeating Carlos Alcaraz in the semi-final then Jannik Sinner in the final. For the 8th time in his career and the 400th week, “Nole” ends the year at the top. Full? Not yet. “I will be able to do better if I win the four Grand Slam tournaments and the Olympic title (Laughs), he confided at a press conference. We’ll see, I still have a lot of ambition and goals to achieve.”

The Italian is continuing his very interesting third quarter, during which he won his first Masters 1000 title in Toronto. He attacked hard at the beginning of October by being crowned in Beijing, after successively beating Grigor Dimitrov, Carlos Alcaraz and Daniil Medvedev. No doubt blunted, he then fell in the round of 16 in Shanghai against Ben Shelton, before rebounding by triumphing in Vienna. There too, Daniil Medvedev is his victim in the final. Arrives Bercy, where he prefers to withdraw after a first round won at the end of the night against Mackenzie McDonald. Here he is fresh for the Turin Masters. In front of his audience, Jannik Sinner reached the final by beating everyone (Tsitsipas, Djokovic, Rune, Medvedev). But he can do nothing in the final against the world No.1. “Tennis is interesting because every day is different. One day I won against him. Then, in the same place, in the same conditions, you lose, he notes at a press conference. But I saw today that I still have to improve. I believe he made me a better player, like all the other players I lost to. Now I have to work on that.”

ENCOURAGEMENTS

“I am much more complete than two years ago. I'm another player. I gained confidence. I am much more stable in my game,” says the 25-year-old Frenchman before the Rolex Paris Masters. If he leaves in the round of 16 at Bercy, beaten after an epic fight against Alexander Zverev, Ugo Humbert is reborn from his ashes. Quarter-finalist in Beijing and Shanghai, he has several top seeds in his field, such as Andrey Rublev, Lorenzo Sonego and Stefanos Tsitsipas. He continues with a semi-final in Basel. In Metz, on its lands, it is the consecration. The Frenchman triumphs after having notably eliminated Dominic Thiem and Fabio Fognini. Falling back to 150th place in the world during the summer of 2022, the left-hander finished the year in the top 20.

There is no age to win titles. At 35, Adrian Mannarino won his third tournament of the season in Sofia, in four finals. Enough to join Roger Federer, Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal in the very closed circle of players having won at least three titles during the same season in the year they turned 35! The left-hander is the 11th best player of the year in the second half of the season, and he ends the year at his best personal ranking, 22nd. Cock-a-doodle Doo.

“Now, when I'm on court, I just want to enjoy the moment, like I'm having a unique experience. How the match will unfold, I don't know. But playing makes me happy and proud.” These words from the Bulgarian warm the heart. Grigor Dimitrov, 32, fallen tennis genius, comes back to life at the end of 2023. After a promising Asian tour, where he reached the final four twice and notably claimed the scalp of Carlos Alcaraz (in Shanghai), the Bulgarian ignites Bercy where he reaches the final. He misses his match against Novak Djokovic but the main thing is elsewhere. The former “baby Federer”, an elegant but irregular player, displays astonishing solidity. Her tears after defeat? “Tears of joy,” he says. Those of a deserved return to light.

The friendly and tall Pole (1.96m) won the second Masters 1000 title of his career in mid-October in Shanghai. A final in Basel, lost to Felix Auger-Aliassime, is also to his credit this quarter. First substitute at the Turin Masters, he compensated at short notice for the withdrawal of Stefanos Tsitsipas, the time to deliver a good game against the future winner Novak Djokovic, from whom he took a set. Hubert Hurkacz ends the year with an impressive total of 1,031 successful aces, far ahead of second place, the American Taylor Fritz (692). A very solid member of the top 10.

CAN DO BETTER

The 20-year-old Spaniard concludes his eventful year with an uneventful quarter. Since his title at Wimbledon and his daunting final against Novak Djokovic in Cincinnati in August, he has clearly slowed down. Two semi-finals are still to his credit, in Beijing and at the Turin Masters. At the Rolex Paris Masters, he only passed, swept away in the first round by Roman Safiullin. In Turin, after his second defeat of the year in four confrontations against Djokovic, he announced that he wanted to “focus on this match” to prepare for the coming season. In 2023, he is only the second best player in the world behind the Serbian. But he seems determined to reverse the trend in 2024.

Her third trimester had been bad. His fourth isn't much brighter. An Asian tour to forget with a first tour in Beijing and a second tour in Shanghai. Before three consecutive semi-finals, in Antwerp, Vienna and Bercy, where he delivered a spectacular match against Grigor Dimitrov. And won his place at the Masters. The Greek ended the year with a withdrawal from his second match in Turin, due to elbow pain which had been bothering him for many weeks. “I hate giving up. It kills me to leave the tournament like that. I had done everything to qualify and be in good shape for this Masters,” he regrets immediately at a press conference. After an excellent start to the year punctuated by a final at the Australian Open, Stefanos Tsitsipas gradually faded away. He is capable of better.

As usual, the 26-year-old Russian reached the last four of a few tournaments. Notably Shanghai (final), Vienna (half) and Bercy (half). But he struggles to convert. His title in Monte-Carlo in April, however, promised to reach a milestone. Although firmly anchored in the world top 5, Andrey Rublev seems destined for supporting roles. This is evidenced by his new elimination in the group stage of the Masters, the third in four participations. For how much longer ?

WARNING

On a sporting level, his quarter is interesting. No title but two finals (Beijing, Vienna) and a place in the last four of the Masters. It took a Jannik Sinner above the rest to prevent the Russian from making his usual harvest on hard surfaces. It is especially his behavior that is striking. As usual, the world No.3 alienated the public. First at Bercy, where, swept away by Grigor Dimitrov as soon as he entered the fray, he left the court giving the Parisians the middle finger. Then in Italy, where the native of Moscow was jeered by the people of Turin during his semi-final against the darling Jannik Sinner. No doubt Daniil Medvedev feeds on this enmity. That's his whole character, for better and for worse.