Tuesday, November 14 will bring us one of the most exciting match-ups of the season. Jannik Sinner, who is playing in his home country, will take on Novak Djokovic in a very important matchup for the Green Group. Sinner is fresh off a dominant straight-set victory over Stefanos Tsitsipas in his opening match, while Djokovic needed three sets to beat a feisty Holger Rune. It was clear that the home crowd gave the Italian a little boost in his win over Tsitsipas, and he’ll need another one against the 24-time Grand Slam champion. However, I think this environment will actually bring out the best in Djokovic, which is why I’m comfortable laying a little juice to back the Serbian.
Over the last few years, Djokovic has been vocal about how much it bothers him that he isn’t adored by most crowds. However, at the same time, Djokovic seems to play his best tennis when he is in the villain role. He’ll certainly be up against a raucous crowd here, and I think that means that Djokovic will be more dialed in than ever—bad news for Sinner when considering this head-to-head matchup has already been dominated by the Serbian.