At 35, the 8th in the world will play his fifth final (only one lost, at the Masters 1000 in Paris) in as many tournaments since his defeat in the quarterfinals at Roland-Garros in May.

It will be against Casper Ruud (4th) who quietly got rid of Andrey Rublev (7th) 6-2, 6-4 and will try to win, at 23, his first major title.

Djokovic will also aim for his second major title of the year, after Wimbledon, having missed a significant part of the season (including the Australian Open and the US Open) for his refusal to be vaccinated against Covid-19.

"It will be the last game of the season, so I will give everything and obviously I will do my best," warned the Serb.

On Saturday, he qualified for his eighth final in fifteen participations in the tournament which each year brings together the eight best players of the season.

For this, he bent the American Taylor Fritz (9th) 7-6 (7/5), 7-6 (8/6).

"I had to fight to survive. Yesterday (Daniil) Medvedev was serving for the match. Today Taylor (Fritz) was serving for the set (in the second set, editor's note). In these moments, I find a little something more. It was not my best day in terms of tennis, but I held on", analyzed the Djoker.

Serbian Novak Djokovic in his semi-final against Taylor Fritz at the Masters on November 19 in Turin Marco BERTORELLO AFP

"Heavy legs"

The question was whether he would be recovered from the huge slack he experienced the day before against Medvedev during a 3:11 arm wrestle, however without any stake for the rest of the tournament.

From this point of view, the Serb was not particularly reassuring.

"I actually had a little heavy legs," he admitted lip service, still reluctant to mention his physical condition so as not to give clues to his opponents.

"I knew at the start of the game that I would have to find a way to adjust my game to my lack of responsiveness today," he added.

He did, however, claim, perhaps to his future opponent, that he would have been "no problem" able to play a third set if necessary.

He won in two sets, thanks to the efficiency of his serve and his ability to deliver the fatal blow at the right time.

Fritz, who was playing for the first time in the Masters tournament having taken advantage of the withdrawal of N.1 Carlos Alcaraz, did not make many mistakes, but they were all heavily penalized.

The American Taylor Fritz against Novak Djokovic on November 19, 2022 in the semi-final of the Masters in Turin Marco BERTORELLO AFP

Double the value

Thus, in the first tie break, Djokovic fired an extraordinary forehand winner to convert his first set point, on Fritz's service.

In the second set, the American served at 5-4 to tie the match at one end.

But while the court was open, his backhand attack stopped in the net, offering a break point to the Serb … who was not asked to do so.

In the second decisive game, Djokovic missed his first match point, but Fritz offered him the final on the second by committing an unforced error.

What Djokovic considers most disappointing in this match is not having "hit the balls as cleanly" as he has been doing since the start of the tournament.

A defect directly linked to "the heaviness of (his) legs", he estimated.

Under these conditions, getting out of it in two sets and two tie breaks against a player as strong as Fritz only "doubles the value of the victory", insisted the Serb.

Ruud will aim for a victory on Sunday which will also be very expensive for him: he will not win the jackpot because he conceded a defeat against Rafael Nadal in the group stage, but he will thus confirm his place among the elite of the season. 2022 during which he played two Grand Slam finals (Roland-Garros and the US Open) and reached 3rd place in the world.

© 2022 AFP