Defending ATP World Tour Finals champion Novak Djokovic scraped through to the semi-finals of the 2023 event courtesy of Jannik Sinner's victory over Holger Rune on Thursday.
The 24-time Grand Slam winner had downed Hubert Hurkacz - an alternate to the injured Stefanos Tsitsipas - in three sets during the afternoon session to leave his fate in Sinner's hands.
Djokovic needed the Italian trailblazer to defeat Rune in order to qualify in second behind Sinner, otherwise the 36-year-old would have been eliminated from contention with Rune progressing.
Rune fought courageously against Sinner, but the home favourite ended up advancing to the semi-finals with a perfect 3-0 record thanks to a 6-2 5-7 6-4 victory in just over two and a half hours.
Sinner's success ensured that Djokovic would be present in a 12th ATP Finals semi-final, drawing level with Ivan Lendl in second place in the all-time charts behind Roger Federer's 16.
Either Sinner or Djokovic will be facing Daniil Medvedev in the final four after the Russian sealed an early progression from the Red Group, where Carlos Alcaraz, Andrey Rublev and Alexander Zverev are also vying for the second semi-final berth.
Alcaraz will meet Medvedev in his final round-robin encounter on Friday afternoon, where victory for the Spaniard would see him put one foot in the semis and eliminate Rublev from contention entirely before the Russian takes on Zverev in the evening.
Ben Knapton
