The stop does not seem to have touched Novak Djokovic. It is true that the Serbian will not be able to recover the 1st place in the world rankings before the end of the season, but this Sunday he dedicated himself to Astana, Kazakhstan, to conquer the 90th title of his career, the second in two weeks – and ensured his presence at the ATP Finals in Turin, the former “Tournament of the Masters”, which he already had Rafael Nadal, Carlos Alcaraz, Casper Ruud and Stefanos Tsitsipas.

Tsitsipas was his victim in Astana (ATP 500), with a powerful 6-3 and 6-4 which thwarted any attempt at reaction. The Serbian, in fact, did not allow breaks during the match and the Greek did not even have the opportunity to remove his service, apart from saving two match points at the end.

Fourth-seeded, Djokovic took advantage of a vacillation from Tsitsipas in the eighth game to make a difference by winning the first set in just 30 minutes of play.

In the second set Tsitsipas – the tennis player who won the most in 2022, with 53 wins – tried it with more daring approaches to the net, but in one of these Djokovic beat him with a right cross that made him think twice in the subsequent occasions.

After the 2-2, Djokovic offered his best face, that of relentless parallels and repercussions, and broke for the 3-2. The Serbian has missed six of his service matches.

The Serbian added his eighth victory over Tsitsipas in ten clashes. It is his second title in two weeks, the third in a row if you take into account Wimbledon, which had been his last participation in the circuit before the hiatus for not being able to enter the United States to play the US Open, as a result of his decision not to get vaccinated against the coronavirus.

Djokovic, who had also won Roma this season, has come a little closer to a hundred titles. At 35, the Serbian still dreams of closing the gap in a ranking led by Jimmy Connors (109), followed by Roger Federer (103), Ivan Lendl (94) and Rafael Nadal (92).