But as the 37-year-old attempts to tread the fine line between reacclimatising his battle-worn body to the rigours of the sport he has graced, while avoiding injury for long enough to bid it a proper farewell, nothing can be taken for granted.

So as Nadal faced Alex de Minaur for the second time in less than a fortnight, there was nothing ordinary about the way he defied a 12-year age gap and a disparity of 501 places in the rankings to avenge his recent defeat at the Barcelona Open. On an afternoon of unbridled passion in the Spanish capital, Nadal was roared to the rafters beneath the closed roof of Estadio Manolo Santana, overcoming a rare moment of controversy and a tenacious fightback from the world No 11 to claim an impressive 7-6 (8-6), 6-3 victory.

Ten days after running out of steam against De Minaur in Barcelona, and in what might otherwise have been his final match on home soil, the win marked a small but significant step forward for Nadal. He has spoken of the need to manage his body in preparation for a possible final tilt at the French Open, where he has won 14 of his 22 grand slam titles, and has stressed that he will only play in Paris if his physical condition improves. The Spaniard’s performance against De Minaur offered grounds for cautious optimism on both fronts. 

Nadal clocked an average of 111mph on his first serve, a notable improvement on the 102mph he managed in Barcelona, and while that was fractionally less than he managed in a first-round demolition of the American teenager Darwin Blanch, it was nonetheless a promising sign that the hip and abdominal issues from which he has suffered this year are easing. His stamina and speed are not what they were, but Nadal is working within his physical constraints, and here that was enough to secure a first top-20 win since he defeated Casper Ruud at the 2022 ATP Finals.

“It needs time,” said the Spaniard, who will face Pedro Cachin of Argentina, ranked 91st, for a place in the last 16. “I think for moments it has been a good level of tennis. I was able to do positive things, but still on and off.  

“I’m super happy to be able to be competitive against a great player like Alex, play over two hours. 

“I really believe that tennis hasn’t been an issue for the last two years, more the physical issues, no? If I am able to play weeks in a row, and if I am able to play tennis, then I’m going to see how far I can go and how competitive I could be. That’s not the case yet – just step by step, let’s see how I recover.”

If there were any doubts about how much the occasion meant to Nadal and those connected with him, they were quickly dispelled. No sooner had he sealed the opening game than the stadium was reverberating to chants of his name; by the time he delivered a mighty whiplash forehand to create the platform for an early break, even his sister, Maria Isabel, was up on her feet brandishing a clenched fist. 

But as Nadal served to stretch his lead, his momentum was arrested by a contentious piece of officiating from the chair umpire, Fergus Murphy. At 15-30, De Minaur sent a return long, prompting the Spaniard to reply with a half-hearted backhand before gesturing to a mark behind the baseline. Murphy, however, did not deem it a clear request for a challenge and awarded the point to De Minaur, who had punctuated the exchange with an uncontested drop shot. The decision prompted a furious reaction from Nadal. 

“If I stop and mark the ball, that doesn’t mean that I want to challenge?” he demanded incredulously before demanding that Murphy call the supervisor. 

“I saw you stop, but I didn’t see you challenge,” replied Murphy as jeers echoed around the arena.

It was a rare outburst from Nadal, whose reputation as one of the fairest competitors on the men’s tour precedes him. Yet his frustration was understandable: the electronic line calling system showed De Minaur’s shot had indeed landed out, and the 25-year-old went on to break, winning four of the next five games. 

Nadal, though, was not to be denied. There were some nervy moments, first when a sequence of untimely errors landed him in trouble while serving at 5-5, then when De Minaur cancelled out four straight set points from 6-2 down in the tiebreak. But when an outrageous if slightly mistimed backhand winner brought up a fifth opportunity, Nadal made no mistake, forcing an error from the Australian with a violent topspin forehand to spark wild celebrations. With the atmosphere growing more febrile by the second, a brilliant piece of defensive play earned Nadal a break at the start of the second set, and from there he would not be caught. 

“You play in Barcelona, and then all of a sudden this match over here, everything doubles,” said De Minaur. “All the outside noise doubles. I wish I would have played better, but I think his level lifted, and he was looking quite good out there, if I may say.”

Whether it will be enough to convince Nadal that he is ready for a final shot at Roland Garros remains to be seen. By his own reckoning, he is not there yet. But a second straight win is a step in the right direction.

As for the more immediate outlook, the removal of Stefanos Tsitsipas from his path will have done Nadal’s prospects in Madrid no harm at all. The seventh-ranked Greek, who won a third Monte Carlo Masters title earlier this month, suffered a 6-4, 6-4 defeat to Thiago Monteiro, a Brazilian qualifier ranked 118th. 

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Facing a break point that would have given Jannik Sinner a 4-1 lead in the deciding set, Tsitsipas sent a second serve long, only for the match officials to miss the call. The Greek, who last reached a final eight months ago, went on to win the point, the game and the match; Sinner, the best player in the world this year by a distance, was left to ruminate on what might have been. Both men agreed the missed call was a turning point.

“I think the match would have turned out completely different if that would have been called out,” said Tsitsipas. “It would have been pretty bad for me if that call was made.”

But while luck is one thing, what you do with it is quite another. On Sunday, Tsitsipas made the most of his unexpected reprieve, producing a performance full of brio and versatility to defeat Norway’s Casper Ruud 6-1, 6-4 and win his third Monte Carlo title in four years. 

Two months after dropping out of the top 10 for the first time since 2019, the 25-year-old’s biggest victory since his 2022 triumph in the principality marks a significant upturn in his fortunes. Tsitsipas will return to the game’s top table next week, rising five places to No 7, and now finds himself in distinguished company, joining Ilie Nastase, Björn Borg, Thomas Muster and Rafael Nadal as only the fifth player to win three or more titles in Monte Carlo. The obvious distinction between the Greek and that quartet of former world No 1s lies in his lack of a French Open title, yet this was an encouraging first step on the road to Paris, where Tsitsipas was a finalist in 2021. On this form, he undoubtedly merits inclusion on any shortlist of contenders for the second major of the season.

“I did need a week like this a lot, especially the rough months that I have been through [from] the last half of 2023 until now,” said Tsitsipas. “It hasn’t been the best of times in terms of where I wanted to be, so getting back here and winning the title is something that I was definitely not aiming for. 

“Winning this tournament three times is something I would have never imagined. Even when I got it the first time, I obviously thought it was a great feeling and that place is special towards me. But getting the holy trinity, as I call it, is something that I will fully cherish and take the most out of.”

In the moments after Tsitsipas converted his first championship point with a rapier-like forehand down the line, the last of 23 devastating winners, it was clear how much the victory meant. The triumphant culmination of his renascent run left Tsistsipas weeping with emotion at courtside. “Back in the game!” cried his physical trainer, Christos Fiotakis, as the jubilant Greek celebrated with his support team. It was hard to disagree. The last time Tsitsipas overcame three top-10 players in the same tournament was in 2018, when he saw off Novak Djokovic, Alexander Zverev and Kevin Anderson to reach the Canadian Open final. After defeating Zverev, Sinner and the redoubtable Ruud, he is undeniably back in the game.

“He’s maybe had a few struggles the last six, seven months,” said Ruud, whose run to the second Masters 1000 final of his career lifts him four places to sixth in the rankings. “I think we can be open and say that. He fell out of the top 10 a few weeks ago for the first time in a really long time. Now he will be back in it. I think that’s where he belongs. His level is really good when he plays like this. It’s nice to see him back in the top 10.”

This was Tsitsipas at his free-flowing, all-court best: dictating the baseline exchanges with his venomous forehand, making bold and imaginative forays to the net, fearlessly dispatching overheads. Even the elusiveness of his first serve did not trouble him, Tsitsipas compensating for a modest 48% success rate by winning a remarkable 68% of his second serve points. “Fate favours [the] fearless,” he scrawled on a TV camera lens, a fitting summary of his swashbuckling performance.

For all his derring-do, however, the Greek was helped by an erratic display from Ruud, who succeeded in bringing his ferocious topspin forehand into play frequently enough to play the match on his own terms, yet struggled to make his biggest weapon tell. All but five of the Norwegian’s 20 unforced errors came off the forehand, a statistic shaped partly by Tsitsipas’s unrelenting aggression, but mainly by his own overpressing. Normally the most serene and composed of characters, Ruud was directing agitated chatter towards his team as early as the fourth game, where he missed a trio of chances to reclaim an early break. It set the tone for a contest in which he was unable to convert any of the eight break points he fashioned.

“When I played Stef in the past, I think the guy who is able to play most aggressive and best with the forehand typically wins the match,” said Ruud, who claimed a maiden win over Djokovic in the semi-finals. “I think we both prefer our forehand sides over the backhands.  

“But today he played also heavy, good from his backhand side. It wasn’t like I found any big holes. I was a little tentative sometimes with the forehand in the beginning, so I missed a few in the net. I was thinking, ‘OK, play loose, go for it, at least go for the winner.’ Then, when I did, I felt like it was going too much out. I didn’t really find a good balance today.”

The same could not be said of Tsitsipas, whose return to form marks an intriguing development at the start of what is shaping up to be the most open clay-court season in years. Since reaching his second major final at the Australian Open last year, the Greek’s game has too often been less than the sum of its formidable parts. But with uncertainty surrounding the fitness of Rafael Nadal and the form of Djokovic, and Carlos Alcaraz struggling with an arm injury, a window of opportunity could be opening. Could Tsitsipas’s win over Sinner prove the catalyst for something yet more momentous?   

“I had an opponent in the semi-final that is a world class tennis player right now, who refused to lose to anyone, and he’s been on a very good streak,” said Tistsipas. “Overcoming that obstacle, it’s definitely a sign that my tennis is progressing and I’m able to push those players.  

“Topping it off, the win today with prevailing and coming victorious towards the end against Casper, who is a very good clay court player – he has shown that by playing multiple Roland Garros finals – it’s definitely a sign that I’m there and the consistency is showing. Definitely I’m capable of big things.”

With springtime in Paris beckoning, we shall soon see just how big.

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Back into the final of the Monte Carlos Masters for the third time in four years. Back into the world’s top 10, less than two months after relinquishing his place at the game’s top table for the first time since 2019. Back to defeating the very best in the sport, something he has not done in a long time.

On a day of high drama and high emotion on the Cote d’Azur, Tsitsipas became only the second player this season to defeat Jannik Sinner, recovering from a break down in the final set to prevail 6-4, 3-6, 6-4 against the Italian world No 2. It was the Greek’s best win by ranking since August 2022, when he overcame Daniil Medvedev, then ranked No 1 in the world, at the Cincinnati Masters.

“It was tennis at its highest level that I’ve been able to play,” said Tsitsipas. “Jannik was an extremely difficult opponent and I guess that also can be seen throughout the year so far, he’s been very consistent, and I could see that today in his game. He’s one of the toughest opponents that I have faced so far. 

“To overcome that obstacle, to just find ways when there weren’t that many, I’m extremely proud of that. He gave me a very difficult game and the way I overcame it, and the way I managed those situations, was true excellence.”

Tsitsipas’s victory was the first act of a remarkable afternoon’s theatre that ended with the world’s top two both losing on the same day at a Masters 1000 event for the first time since 2010. Casper Ruud later claimed the biggest win of his career, advancing to his second Masters 1000 final with a 6-4, 1-6, 6-4 victory over Novak Djokovic. 

“It’s, in my eyes, one of the all-time players to try to beat,” said Ruud. “Today I was able to do it. Something I can remember for the rest of my life and tell, hopefully, my kids in the future, and my grandkids when I’m getting old, that I beat Novak one time at least.”

In 11 previous meetings with top-three opposition, Ruud, a three-time grand slam finalist, had never won a set. But the 25-year-old Norwegian altered that pattern by winning four of the opening five games, and although his level dropped after taking the first set, he recovered to open up an identical 4-1 lead in the decider. 

It was at that stage that Djokovic, who struggled to find his best tennis consistently, produced another determined surge, unleashing a mighty backhand winner and an even mightier roar on the way to claiming what looked likely to prove a vital break. Instead, having levelled the set, his game unravelled as he served to stay in the match. A sequence of unforced errors brought up three match points for Ruud, and although Djokovic steadied himself to fend off the first two, a double fault sealed his fate. 

“I had my chances, but [the] last game was not great,” said Djokovic, who remains without a title this season. “Unforced errors and just he was solid, I think, until the last shot and deserved to win.  

“My game was kind of up and down. The positive thing is that I managed to come back after losing the first set and really find the strength in the game. So there are positives to take away from this tournament, for sure, but of course [I’m] disappointed with the loss.”

Sinner too had cause for disappointment, although he refused to entertain thoughts of what might have been had the officials spotted a clear double fault by Tsitsipas as he faced a break point at 1-3 in the decider. A double break would surely have been decisive for Sinner, who had worked his way back into contention after a dominant start by Tsitsipas, but the mistake was missed by both the service line judge and the chair umpire, Aurélie Tourte, and the Greek went on to hold.

Sinner, who was afflicted by cramp in the closing stages, acknowledged that the missed call preyed on his mind as Tsitsipas reeled off the final four games.

“It’s tough, a tough one to swallow, because I was playing at some point great tennis,” said Sinner, whose only previous loss this season came against Carlos Alcaraz in Indian Wells. “I was playing well, tactically everything went in the right direction.  

“Everyone can make mistakes unfortunately or fortunately. You know, also I can make mistakes. And it went like this.

“Then after, having cramps, it’s a consequence most likely of what happened, because it also goes in the nervous side of the brain and then after, it’s not easy to play. I tried my best still.”

Tsitsipas agreed that the missed call played a crucial role in the outcome.

“Double break down wouldn’t make things easier for me, and just holding serve there was crucial,” smiled the Greek. “I think the match would have turned out completely different if that had been called out. I will agree that it would have been pretty bad for me if that call was made.”

For the most part, however, Tsitsipas made his own luck, not least in a remarkable first set that saw him drop just two points behind his serve as he dictated the baseline exchanges. It was arguably the finest tennis he has produced on the red dirt since his run to the French Open final in 2021.

“It was one of the best first sets I have played on clay,” said Tsitsipas. “So much consistency and great quality of shot-making. Just pure, clean game from start to finish.”

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Mannarino did not play badly; far from it. Few players have a more instinctive feel for the geometry of a tennis court than the mercurial southpaw, and his mastery of line and length meant the baseline exchanges were never less than competitive. Djokovic, however, was relentless, his physical and mental intensity off the charts as he refused to allow an opponent with a trio of five-set wins in his legs a moment’s respite. 

By the time two sets had rolled by, Mannarino was reduced to incredulous laughter, miming his predicament to his team at the changeover as he made two circles with his fingers to form a pair of spectacles. Two games later, when he finally held serve for the first time to make a belated impression on the scoreboard, the Frenchman was afforded a rapturous ovation. Djokovic, meanwhile, was impassive – until Alison Hughes, the British chair umpire, started the shot clock before the din had died down, prompting a furious reaction from the 10-time champion.

“The tension in the third set, it was so big, whether he’s going to win a game or not,” said Djokovic after advancing to a 58th grand slam quarter-final to equal Roger Federer’s record. “The crowd wanted him to win a game and be in the match. I almost felt like it’s good to give away the game, just to be able to reset and refocus because the tension is growing as the match progresses without him winning a game.  

“I think, of course, it’s tough for him, but also for me to be able to not think about that, not think about the triple bagel.

“It was a very clean overall performance, against always a tricky opponent who plays a kind of a cat-and-mouse type of tennis. Has a very flat backhand, uses his talent and his touch very well, puts you in a very uncomfortable position on the court, makes you work.”

That much was evident when one punishing rally early in the second set left Djokovic bent double on the baseline, clutching at his shin and almost retching as he struggled for breath. The Serbian world No 1 has been suffering from a viral infection over the past week and, as he ran down the shot clock, stalling for time, Mannarino sensed an opportunity. Djokovic had won eight straight games up to that point; a break would have offered Mannarino an opportunity to reset, to get back on serve, to be something more than a bystander at his own execution. 

Now was the time for a flash of French brilliance, a party piece like the astonishing drop volley Mannarino produced against Shelton, a stroke so heavily cut that, as it spun off violently at a 180-degree angle, he gleefully turned his back, confident in the knowledge the point was won. Djokovic has a few party pieces of his own, however, and he responded to the danger with one of his favourites: a precise 124mph ace down the centre line that left Mannarino flailing at thin air. The Frenchman would not see another break point, the chief interest from thereon lying in whether Djokovic would go on to claim the first 6-0, 6-0, 6-0 win at a major since Sergei Bruguera humbled Thierry Champion by that score at the French Open in 1993.

“I thought maybe I would this year feel slightly more relaxed, for lack of better term, or maybe less tension,” said Djokovic, who would claim an all-time record were he to win a 25th grand slam title a week from now. “But it’s not. It is as it always was: very high intensity. 

“You can see it even today. I was 6-0, 2-0 up. It was a long game, and I was like going on with discussions, heated discussions, with my box. I always look for the best performance from myself.”

Having raised his level significantly since the opening two rounds, in which he was taken to four sets first by Dino Prizmic, a Croatian qualifier, and then by Alexei Popyrin, the Australian world No 43, Djokovic will face Taylor Fritz of the United States for a place in the last four. Fritz, the 12th seed, defeated last year’s finalist Stefanos Tsitsipas 7-6 (7-3), 5-7, 6-3, 6-3 to set up a repeat of his third-round meeting with Djokovic in Rod Laver Arena three years ago, when the Serb suffered an abdominal injury before prevailing in five dramatic sets.

“I think that I have a lot more level to bring than I’ve previously brought against him,” said Fritz following his maiden top-10 win at a major. “Hopefully, I can play another match like today.”

The winner of that match will play either Jannik Sinner or Andrey Rublev, respectively seeded fourth and fifth, who advanced to the last eight in contrasting style. 

Sinner, who has won two of his last three meetings with Djokovic and has yet to drop a set in Melbourne, claimed a 6-4, 7-5, 6-3 victory over Russia’s Karen Khachanov.

Rublev was forced to take a more circuitous route to victory, prevailing 6-4, 6-7 (5-7), 6-7 (4-7), 6-3, 6-0 against Alex de Minaur to prolong Australia’s 48-year wait for a home champion. 

“The match was basically changed when he started to get a little bit more fatigued and he started to realise that he probably had to go after it a little bit more, and adopted a more aggressive game style,” said De Minaur, adding that his downfall owed nothing to the pressure of domestic expectations.

“He executed that and I wasn’t able to expose his movement. Nothing about pressure. Nothing about expectation. None of that.”

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As might be expected against a man who has just clinched the year-end top ranking for an unprecedented eighth time, Sinner’s path to a potentially transformative 7-5, 6-7 (5-7), 7-6 (7-2) victory was fraught with challenges and setbacks. 

A set to the good after capitalising on a rare wobble from Djokovic towards the end of the first set, the Italian was twice pegged back with the finish line in sight, first after taking an early lead in the second-set tiebreak, then when he led by a break in the decider. But with his mental resilience matched by the quality and conviction of his shot-making, the 22-year-old remained imperturbable.

That was more than could be said for Djokovic, who spent much of the evening sarcastically applauding the jeers of a fiercely partisan crowd, not least after he was distracted while serving late in the first set, prompting a double-fault that paved the way for a vital break. Down the stretch he even turned conductor, orchestrating a chorus of derision with a flourish of his arms during a changeover. 

Curiously, however, there was little of the belligerence that characterised the Serb’s fractious run to the Paris Masters title earlier this month. Djokovic has maintained from the moment he arrived in Turin that his chief goal was to secure the year-end No 1 ranking. Having done that with a three-set win over Holger Rune in his opening match, the 36-year-old cut a somewhat becalmed figure against Sinner, his frequent smiles hinting at an uncharacteristic insouciance. While his tennis was anything but nonchalant, neither was this Djokovic at maximum mental intensity. Sinner took full advantage, storming through the climactic tiebreak to seal his second win of the season over a reigning No 1, following his victory over Carlos Alcaraz at the Miami Open, in three hours and nine minutes.

“Putting together all circumstances, playing here in Turin against the No 1 in the world, he won 24 grand slams, with such an atmosphere and everything, I think it’s in the top, top [performances of his season],” said Sinner, who will face Holger Rune in his final match. 

“Even if I would have lost today, the match was really good. Also for my mind [it] was really important to go close this match, so in my mind I know I can really trying to win against him also for the next matches.”

There lies the rub for Djokovic, who will face a player infused with newfound confidence should the pair cross swords again in the knockout phase. The suspicion lingers that the Serb will be a very different proposition in that eventuality. Yet, in current form, Sinner need fear no one.

Since reaching his first major semi-final this summer at Wimbledon, where he pushed Djokovic hard in a straight-sets defeat, the Italian has remained on a firmly upward trajectory. As last month’s title wins in Beijing and Vienna demonstrated, Sinner has improved virtually every aspect of his game since bringing on board the coaching expertise of Simone Vagnozzi and Darren Cahill last year. Against Djokovic, who had won each of their three previous meetings, his quality was apparent in every key area. 

Sinner not only limited the game’s finest returner to only three break points, dropping just one of his 18 service games, but also applied constant pressure with the length and penetration of his returns. From the baseline, meanwhile, the Italian kept Djokovic on his toes with some fine drop shots and achieved the rare distinction of regularly outdoing the Serb in the frequent backhand-to-backhand exchanges. 

The latter ability was never more crucial for Sinner than when he found himself delivering a second serve at 5-5, 15-30 in the decider. It had all the makings of a signature Djokovic moment; instead, the Serb hit two crosscourt backhands short before screwing a third wide. Sinner’s remarkable composure – against the world’s best player, and with the eyes of an expectant nation upon him – did the rest. 

“I was in the rally and should have stepped in and didn’t, and he did,” said Djokovic, who will face Poland’s Hubert Hurkacz in his final group match after Stefanos Tsitsipas withdrew from the tournament with a back injury. 

“You have to just congratulate him. He just played a fantastic match. That’s what I told him at the net. I think in the most important moments, he played his best game and he absolutely deserved to win.

“Obviously, in these kind of matches, very few opportunities are presented. If you don’t use them, then the other player will. That was the case, basically. 

“I think I learned that in some moments I have to be a bit more decisive. I wasn’t today. That’s OK. Some you win, some you lose. Most of my career I was winning these kind of matches. Some I lost, like the one tonight.  

“I don’t think I’ve done too many things wrong in terms of my game. He just was more decisive and courageous in the moments when he needed to be. He made some amazing points, played exactly the shots he needed to play. You just have to put the hat down.”

Tsitsipas earlier played just three games against Rune before succumbing to a back problem that has been bothering him for several days. The Greek sixth seed, who was in evident discomfort as Rune held for 2-1, withdrew after taking medical advice during the changeover. 

“Unfortunately, I felt terrible on the court,” said Tsitsipas. “I did what I could do in the best possible way to be ready and fit for this match, but it didn’t work out for me. 

“The pain was very big. I’ve gone through pain during matches in the past, and I endured pain, but this was clearly too much to handle. I had to take the difficult decision to do what I did.”

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He likes a record, does Djokovic, and the 36-year-old will be fully aware that a seventh title at the season-ending championships would take him clear of Roger Federer as the most successful player in the history of the elite eight-man event. Why make do with one milestone when two are there for the taking?

Nonetheless, as Djokovic clinched a hard-earned 7-6 (7-4), 6-7 (1-7), 6-3 victory over Holger Rune, crouching low with his head bowed towards the court, any scepticism about his chief ambition in northern Italy was banished. It was clear what the win meant to the Serb, who will become the first man in history to hold the top ranking for more than 400 weeks after the tournament.

To put the enormity of that accomplishment into perspective, the only other man to surpass 300 weeks at No 1 is Federer. Third on the all-time list is Pete Sampras, who reigned for a total of 286 weeks and finished the year on the top of the rankings six times, a record that has now been comfortably eclipsed by Djokovic. Increasingly, even the greatest champions are receding in the Serb’s rear-view mirror. 

“It’s huge,” Djokovic acknowledged after prevailing, shortly after midnight, in a shade over three hours.

“It means a lot, obviously. I knew coming into the tournament here I needed only one win to clinch the year-end No 1. I really wanted that to happen already tonight. I didn’t want to prolong the situation and complicate this particular goal. I’m really glad that I managed to do that.  

“It always has been a huge objective and huge goal of mine to be No 1 in the world. Other than grand slams, that’s what counts the most. To finish off the year as No 1 in the world at this stage of my life and career is something really amazing.

“Anything that happens from this moment onwards in this tournament is a bonus for me.”

If Djokovic is as serene as that statement would suggest – and at this stage, we probably ought to take him at his word – it is likely to spell bad news for the rest of the field. In defeating Rune for the second time in 10 days, the Serb earned his 14th top-10 win of the season, equalling a statistical landmark set by Federer for a player over the age of 35. As he has shown time and again, Djokovic knows better than anyone what it takes to win at this level, and once again he was able to eclipse the hunger and vitality of a significantly younger man.

This was nonetheless a much closer battle than their quarter-final meeting at the Paris Masters, Rune’s quality and determination ensuring Djokovic was unable to capitalise on his opportunities with the same ruthless efficiency he exhibited in Bercy. Having sealed a tight first set with a thunderbolt forehand return, the 24-time grand slam champion not only suffered the rare indignity of losing a “really terrible” second-set tiebreak, but also crushed a pair of rackets underfoot after Rune recovered from a break down early in the decider. In five meetings, the Danish world No 10 has never failed to take a set against Djokovic, for whom this was a victory rooted in resilience and resourcefulness.

“We have had great matches always when we played,” said Rune, who is ending the year strongly after a post-Wimbledon slump. “Unfortunately I couldn’t do it today, but that’s how it is. I have to look forward and take the things out of the match I was happy with, take the things out of the match that I wasn’t happy with, and go back to the practice [court] and try to make them better.”

The sternest challenge to Djokovic in Green Group may yet come from Jannik Sinner, the Italian world No 4, who earlier delighted his adoring public with a 6-4, 6-4 win over Stefanos Tsitsipas of Greece. One break in each set was enough for the 22-year-old, who sealed victory with his ninth ace of an evening on which he did not face a single break point. “The crowd support was crazy,” said Sinner, who revelled in an atmosphere that he likened to a football stadium. 

“I knew a little bit what to expect before the match because of two years ago when I entered in the court,” said Sinner, who qualified by right this year after filling in for the injured Matteo Berrettini as first alternate in 2021. “But I felt like today was a little bit different.  

“My baggage of experience and how I am as a player in [the] two years [since], some things have changed, so the mindset is a little bit different. I think generally the crowd today was really, really nice. They were pushing me, not only when I won the point but also when I lost the point. The ability to handle this kind of thing, not playing only for me but also for the fans and everything, I think it’s a great balance.”

For Tsitsipas, it was a sobering start to an event where he was crowned champion four years ago. The Greek afterwards denied rumours that he has been struggling with injury.

“I’m healthy,” said Tsitsipas. “I’m ready to compete.”With Djokovic awaiting in his final group match on Thursday, ahead of a Tuesday night meeting with Sinner, he will need to be.

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“We were in uncharted territory now,” she intones in a voiceover, “making up history as we went along.”

Much the same may be said of Novak Djokovic, a man whose limb-contorting defensive play has often been likened to the film’s villainous T-1000 cyborg, a shape-shifting android capable of dissolving into liquid metal before reconstituting itself. For Djokovic, there is nothing novel in the idea of making up history on the hoof. On the contrary, it is part of his routine – one he hopes to continue at the ATP Finals in Turin.

Where Djokovic goes, records invariably follow. At last year’s ATP Finals, the Serbian strongman equalled Roger Federer’s landmark haul of six titles, becoming the oldest champion in the event’s history. Should he prevail again this time, Djokovic will not only pull clear of the retired Swiss to claim the record outright, but also put the gloss on an unprecedented eighth year-end No 1 ranking, a distinction that will be guaranteed if he overcomes Holger Rune in his opener on Sunday night. That victory would in turn ensure that the 36-year-old goes on to become the first man ever to hold the top ranking for more than 400 weeks. 

Nor does it end there. Should Djokovic qualify for next year’s finals, he would equal another milestone, matching Federer’s record of 17 appearances at the season-ending championships. By that time, he may well have added another notch or four to his tally of grand slam titles, which currently stands level with Margaret Court at 24, and expanded his record total of 40 Masters 1000 titles, the most recent of which came last week in Paris. 

Even after a season in which he fell just one win short of a calendar grand slam for the second time in three years, Djokovic is determined to keep cutting a swathe through the record books. What drives his relentless ambition?

“I love competing, I love the sport,” said the 36-year-old. “That’s my greatest motivation really, because I’ve made a lot of records, I’ve broken a lot of records and it’s great. Even if I leave professional tennis now and reflect on everything I’ve done, I can be extremely satisfied. 

“So I don’t have pressure to keep on competing, but I still have desire and still have the level. I’m playing at a very high level, so records are there obviously as a huge inspiration as well, no doubt, and history of the sport. I still want to create my own history and history of tennis and see how far I can go.”

With milestones falling like dominoes, can anyone stop the world No 1 in Turin? Rune, the Danish world No 10, has won two of his four meetings with Djokovic and pushed the top seed to a decider in Paris last week. Yet, for all the encouraging signs of resurgence from the 20-year-old following the recruitment of Boris Becker as his coach, it remains to be seen whether a maiden appearance at the season finale will bring a return to the form that carried him to the French Open and Wimbledon quarter-finals. The comedown from those summer highs was steep, Rune suffering seven defeats in eight matches before he finally stopped the rot with a semi-final run in Basel last month. Qualification for Turin ultimately became an end in its own right for the Dane and, after edging out Hubert Hurkacz by just 215 points in the race for eighth spot, it is asking a lot to regroup and go again at this late stage in the season.

“It’s been a big goal for me,” said Rune of clinching his place in Turin. “Being in the season and in the moment, you don’t think so much about it, but as we got closer and the race was very close for me with other players, it was a goal that I really wanted to achieve. I wanted it badly and I got it, so I’m very happy and satisfied with that.”

Green Group is completed by Stefanos Tsitsipas, whose debut victory in London four years ago remains his most notable title to date, and Jannik Sinner, the home favourite, who has qualified by right for the first time after replacing his injured compatriot Matteo Berrettini with two group matches remaining in 2021. Sinner has yet to register a win against Djokovic, while Tsitsipas has beaten the Serb just twice in 13 matches. The pair will open proceedings on Sunday afternoon.

“I’m coming in with a very positive mindset here,” said Sinner, who reached a first grand slam semi-final this summer at Wimbledon and is up to a career-high ranking of fourth after title wins in Beijing and Vienna last month. 

“I’ve had a great year. The last part of the season I played really well, especially the indoor tournaments, and I’m happy to be here. I will try to take a lot of positive energy with the crowd and everything. It’s going to be a lot of fun. I also have to enjoy this moment. I know what I’m capable of, obviously.”

Few have a better insight those capabilities than Carlos Alcaraz, the Spanish second seed and Red Group favourite, who may be quietly relieved to find himself at arm’s length from a player who has won on four of the seven occasions they have met. 

For all the brilliance of a season that has brought six titles, including a first Wimbledon crown, Alcaraz has ample food for thought ahead of his maiden appearance at an event he missed last season with an abdominal tear. The 20-year-old’s hopes of challenging Djokovic for the year-end No 1 ranking were dashed last month by a combination of the back and foot injuries that forced him to withdraw from Basel, and a shock early exit to Roman Safiullin, a Russian ranked 39 in the world, at the Paris Masters. As ever, Alcaraz has been quick to find a silver lining. 

“The defeat in Paris, which was quite painful, made me realise that I have to work harder,” said the Spaniard, who has not won a tournament since Wimbledon. “That’s what I’ve done. You always have to look for the positive in things. I’ve had several days to train to come here in optimum form. I’ve worked hard, on both fitness and tennis. I feel really good.” 

Alcaraz will need to translate those good feelings into good tennis from the get-go if he is to build the momentum he will need to stop Djokovic. He has already contested a pair of epic finals against the Serb this year, first at Wimbledon and then in Cincinnati, and few would say no to a fifth instalment of a rivalry that currently stands all square at two apiece. 

First, though, Alcaraz will need to find a way past two former champions in Daniil Medvedev, his US Open conqueror, and Germany’s Alexander Zverev, whom he will face in his opening match on Monday. Also lying in wait is Andrey Rublev, the Russian world No 5, with whom Alcaraz has never previously crossed swords. Navigating a path out of the group will be far from easy, but the Murcian insists he is ready.

“I’m expecting the Carlos from early this year, despite the results I’ve had in recent tournaments,” said the Spaniard.

Alcaraz is certainly likely to need that version of himself against Medvedev, who will be eager to erase the memory of last year, when he lost each of his three group matches in a final-set tiebreak. The smart money suggests the Russian world No 3 will succeed: few know the course and distance better than Medvedev, who was crowned champion in 2020 and lost the following year’s final to Zverev. Like Alcaraz, the 27-year-old promises to be ready.   

“From the first match, you play against a top 10 player, which never happens on tour other than here,” said Medvedev. “You have to play your best from the first match if you want to try to win the whole thing.”

Nobody does that quite like Djokovic, however, and Alcaraz, Sinner and company will be all too aware that the six-time champion remains the man to beat.   

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It was a moment that encapsulated the contest. Zapata Miralles, a livewire 26-year-old ranked 76 in the world, gave a fine account of himself, particularly in the early stages. Not afraid to slug it out with Djokovic from the baseline, the Spaniard held his own admirably. He won his opening service game to love, immediately carved out a couple of break points, and displayed a useful knack for producing line-clipping forehand winners when he most needed them. Like Tourte, however, Zapata Miralles was merely delaying the inevitable.

The challenge for any player with aspirations of making a name for himself in Djokovic’s section of the draw is that virtuosity is merely a starting point. Sustained excellence is required to dent the Serb’s armour, and even that may not be enough, as Carlos Alcaraz discovered 10 days ago in Cincinnati, where a seemingly certain victory was prised from his grasp. Zapata Miralles did what he could, yet he knew what he was up against. He described Djokovic as a machine before the match, and proof of that appraisal was there in the numbers: six break points converted, none conceded, 35 winners to Zapata Miralles’s 15, and all in brutal humidity.

“Conditions were quite humid,” said Djokovic. “I said it after [my] first-round match, there’s very little air, very little breeze you can feel on the court. I think it affected both of us.  

“He started off solid. We had some rallies. We had to reach out for the towel basically after each one of those longer rallies, so it took a bit more time and effort. But one break was enough. Then, after that, [in the] second set I played really good. 

“I ended up playing really well. I’m pleased with the way I’m feeling, playing on the court. [It] can always be better, but [in the] first two rounds I didn’t spend too much time on the court and played very solid. Hopefully I can keep building.”

Having reclaimed the world No 1 ranking from Alcaraz on Monday with his opening-round demolition of Alexandre Muller, Djokovic is slowly gathering momentum in his quest for a fourth title. The 23-time grand slam champion will play Laslo Djere, a fellow Serb ranked 38 in the world, in the next round. Like Zapata Miralles, Djere does his best work on clay, where he came within two points of defeating Djokovic last year in Belgrade. Djokovic offered a warm appraisal of Djere’s qualities but, in reality, potential threats to his progress are far from obvious. Seeds have fallen like skittles in the bottom quarter of the draw, where Christopher Eubanks, Francisco Cerundolo, Felix Auger-Aliassime and Lorenzo Musetti, who defeated Djokovic in Monte Carlo earlier this year, have all been beaten. 

Holger Rune, seeded fourth and projected to meet Djokovic in the semi-finals, was bundled out in the opening round, and on Wednesday Stefanos Tsitsipas, the Serb’s anticipated quarter-final opponent, also joined the ranks of the vanquished, falling in five sets to Dominic Stricker, a 21-year-old Swiss qualifier ranked 128. The Greek, seeded seventh, has yet to advance beyond the third round at Flushing Meadows in seven visits.

“I struggled with my movement today a lot, and it was the main issue with my performance,” said Tsitsipas, who served for the match in the fourth set before Stricker prevailed 7-5, 6-7 (2-7), 6-7 (5-7), 7-6 (8-6), 6-3. 

“Usually I’m much tougher mentally, and I have shown it by coming back. Even though sometimes I get broken serving for the match, I still find ways in the tiebreaker or perhaps in the fifth set. Today, that was not the case. I was not able to bounce back after it, not as strong.”

There were no such problems for Iga Swiatek, the top seed and defending champion, who defeated Daria Saville of Australia 6-3, 6-4. Coco Gauff, the American sixth seed, won a battle of teenage prodigies against 16-year-old Mirra Andreeva 6-3, 6-2.

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What the record books won’t reveal is that an incorrect line call may have not only denied Murray the chance to serve for a famous victory, but also thwarted his best chance in six years to make a deep run at the All England Club.

The crucial moment came at 15-30 in the ninth game of the fourth set, where Murray neutralised a 128mph Tsitsipas serve with a lovely angled return. With the Greek lining up a reply from outside the doubles alley, a linesman called Murray’s shot out, a decision that Aurelie Tourte, the French chair umpire, immediately endorsed.

Had Murray challenged, the Hawk-Eye replay would have shown that the ball clipped the outside edge of the line. That would have meant a replay, and a second chance to bring up two break points that, had Murray been able to capitalise, would have left him serving for the match. 

“The 15-30 point, my return was in?” Murray asked incredulously when the subject was raised in his press conference. 

“That’s obviously frustrating, because I remember, I think it was a backhand cross-court return, very short. I probably would have won the point.”

The previous evening, at a similarly important juncture late in the first set, Murray had been all too quick to request a review, stopping play mid-point and inadvertently putting himself set point down as a result. This time, though, he placed his faith in the officials.

“It was right underneath the umpire’s nose,” said Murray. “They shouldn’t be missing that, to be honest. If they’re unsure, they should let the player know.  

“I assumed the umpire would have made the right call. The linesperson, I think, called it out. The umpire called it out. You can obviously argue it’s a mistake on my part. Ultimately, the umpire made a poor call that’s right in front of her.”

Murray’s frustration will not be eased by the knowledge that, had he been able to repeat last summer’s grass-court victory over Tsitsipas in Stuttgart, a navigable draw lay ahead. With Serbia’s Laslo Djere awaiting in the next round ahead of a potential last-16 meeting with either Christopher Eubanks, a four-set winner over Britain’s Cameron Norrie, or Christopher O’Connell, the Australian world No 73, Tsitsipas cannot face a fellow seed before the quarter-finals. 

It is the kind of opportunity that Murray dreamed of when he skipped the French Open in order to focus on his grass-court preparations at Challenger events in Surbiton and Nottingham. Unsurprisingly, he said he would be in favour of electronic line calls replacing line judges.

“Right now I obviously would rather it was done automatically,” said Murray. “It’s a hard one, because I probably prefer having the lines judges on the court. It feels nicer to me. 

“The challenges, I think the crowd quite like it. I think for TV, they probably quite like it. But when mistakes are getting made in important moments then obviously, as a player, you don’t want that.”

Yet Murray too made his mistakes. Not least among them was his failure to return a Tsitsipas second serve early in the fourth-set tiebreak, an error for which he furiously berated himself. The cost of that miss became apparent a couple of points later when Murray came out on the wrong end of a cat-and-mouse rally behind his serve, inviting the Greek in with a short slice only to put up a tame lob when Tsitsipas charged in behind a meaty approach. That rally, at 30 shots the longest of the match, gave Tsitsipas the first mini-break and a momentum he would not relinquish.

The good news for Murray, as a contest halted late on Thursday night with the Scot leading by two sets to one went into a decider, was that his 36-year-old body was showing no sign of injury. Murray had crumpled to the turf in alarming fashion after twisting his groin in the dying seconds of the previous evening’s play, but any fears he might be physically compromised were allayed three games into the resumption, when he raced forward to flick a backhand winner off a Tsitsipas drop shot. 

What ultimately did for the former champion was not his body, but rather his only lapse on serve in four hours and 40 minutes, spread over two days, in which the margins could not have been tighter. A Murray double-fault at 0-30 in the third game of the decider brought up three break points for Tsitsipas. Murray gamely fended off the first two, but an unforced error on the third handed the Greek a breakthrough he would not relinquish.

“It doesn’t come easy, especially when you’re playing Andy Murray,” said Tsitsipas. “He’s a marathon man.

“Those two sets felt really long. I remember at some point in the fifth, I was thinking it feels like we were playing forever.”

Yet nothing lasts forever, as Murray appreciates only too well. For all his efforts, for all the promise of his results in the build-up to the fortnight, he once again leaves SW19 with a sense of crushing disappointment. Asked whether he would be back next year, Murray, who gave a lingering farewell wave as he left Centre Court to a standing ovation, was non-committal.

“I don’t know,” he said. “Motivation is obviously a big thing. Continuing having early losses in tournaments like this don’t necessarily help with that. 

“It’s similar to, I guess, last year [when he was beaten by John Isner in the second round]. I had a long think about things, spoke to my family, decided to keep on going.  

“I don’t plan to stop right now. But this one will take a little while to get over.”

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After a night of high drama and high quality on Centre Court, Andy Murray stands within touching distance of adding another unforgettable chapter to his Wimbledon story, the former world No 1 having taken a two sets to one lead over Stefanos Tsitsipas, the Greek fifth seed. With play halted 21 minutes before the tournament’s 11pm curfew, Murray will return to the All England Club on Friday afternoon in an attempt to finish the job.

What no one outside his immediate circle can know, however, is how the two-time champion will pull up after crumpling to the turf with a gut-wrenching shriek on the penultimate point of the night.

A collective intake of breath resounded around Centre Court as Murray rolled on the grass, clutching at the left-hand side of his groin, before gingerly clambering to his feet. Then, as the realisation dawned that the 36-year-old’s evening was not at an end, gasps gave way to cheers. The umpire, Aurelie Tourte, who was quickly on the scene to check on the stricken Scot, handed Murray his racket and returned to her chair. Another concerned onlooker, Gerry Armstrong, the tournament supervisor, disappeared behind the backstop.

Murray stepped up to the line, threw down a 111mph serve and, as Tsitsipas’s return sailed long, cementing a 6-7 (3-7), 7-6 (7-2), 6-4 lead for the Scot, he bounced up and down on the spot, a 36-year-old with a sore groin and a metal hip but a spirit of steel. 

“Let’s go!” Murray cried, as his mother, Judy, gently shook her head in disbelief. “Let’s go!”

To Murray’s evident displeasure, club officials took that remark all too literally. Gone they soon were, proceedings halted with 21 minutes of play still possible. 

“Why?” demanded Murray, although the answer was obvious. It had taken two hours and 52 minutes to complete the first three sets. Clearly there was little prospect of a repeat of 2012, when, on another electrifying night on Centre Court, Murray stormed through a 28-minute fourth set to complete a nail-biting four-set win over Marcos Baghdatis a couple of minutes after the curfew.

What is it about Murray and late finishes? Earlier this year, the former world No 1 fought back from two sets to love down to defeat Thanasi Kokkinakis in an Australian Open epic that lasted nearly six hours and ended after 4am. Happily for Murray’s prospects of making the deep run at Wimbledon that he so craves, there was never any chance of a repeat of that scenario here.

No one could say Murray’s gladiatorial spirit has not rubbed off on his compatriots. Had it not been for the heroic exploits of fellow Brit Liam Broady, who earlier scored a major upset with a 6-4, 3-6, 4-6, 6-3, 6-0 victory over Casper Ruud, the fourth seed, Murray might have arrived on Centre Court in plenty of time to finish. Instead, it was approaching 8pm by the time the match began. Given the former champion’s track record of long battles, a late night was almost inevitable, a fact reflected in the decision to start with the roof closed.

Tsitsipas, whose most notable title came indoors at the ATP Finals four years ago, was not about to complain about that. If Murray hoped the Greek might be feeling the after-effects of the previous day’s five-set battle with Dominic Thiem, he was quickly disappointed. 

Crushing big serves and thunderous forehands, Tsitsipas began like a runaway train, the thud of the ball off his strings amplified under the closed roof. It was hard to believe that this was the same man who had claimed only one victory from four grass-court matches in the build-up to Wimbledon. Yet Tsitsipas, who declared himself “empty” after his victory over Thiem, seemed energised by the occasion and the atmosphere. Murray, meanwhile, made a relatively slow start on serve, struggling to land his first delivery as he recovered from 0-30 down. 

From there, however, neither man gave an inch until Murray, serving to stay in the set at 5-6, suffered a sudden brain freeze at deuce, stopping mid-point to challenge a Tsitsipas return. A Hawk-Eye replay showed the ball had clipped the back edge of the line; out of nowhere, the Greek had a set point. Murray fended off the danger with a brave crosscourt forehand, prising a miss from Tsitsipas, but the world No 5 made no such mistake in the ensuing tiebreak, defending brilliantly before landing a sizzling forehand winner to claim what proved a decisive mini-break.

The second set continued in similar vein. Despite some brilliant returning from Murray at 5-5, neither player was able to fashion a single break point, necessitating a second tiebreak. Murray seized the early initiative with a vintage backhand, catching his opponent cold with a sudden injection of pace before consolidating the advantage with some brilliant serving. As he moved ahead 4-1, his wife, Kim, rose to her feet, yelling encouragement. A fine return quickly secured a second mini-break. As Murray served out to level the contest, Centre Court erupted. 

Further joy was to come at the start of the third set as Murray claimed the first break of the night, forcing crucial errors from Tsitsipas with a superb pass and a skidding sliced backhand that barely reached shoelace-level. Murray, alive to the significance of the moment, turned to his box and gave a lingering shake of the first. By the time the Scot held for 2-0, he had won 13 of the previous 15 points. The tide had turned. 

Tsitsipas fashioned two break points in the fourth game, but Murray was again equal to the moment, blasting an ace that had Kim and Judy out of their seats once more, then drawing an error at the end of a cat-and-mouse rally. 

With that nine-minute battle lost, Tsitsipas began to show signs of frustration, most notably when he bizarrely allowed a mid-court ball to drop to ankle level before cutting across the ball with an ungainly swipe. “That’s indescribable,” said John McEnroe, commentating for the BBC, as the ball bounced before reaching the net.

In the circumstances, the curtailment of the match probably did Tsitsipas a huge favour. Yet the same could be said for Murray, given the uncertainty surrounding his physical state after that late tumble. With the outcome in the balance, play will resume after 3pm on Friday.

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