Novak Djokovic v Jannik Sinner - The Italian beats World No.1 Djokovic for the first time following a classic encounter at the 2023 Nitto ATP Finals in Turin

Sinner looks to ride the momentum into the second set and keeps the crowd upbeat with a powerhouse strike to snare the first point of the Djoker serve.

The Serb needs to find another gear here and duly does, showing tactical nous to produce an acute angle on a volley en route to a game to 15 after opting to S+V on a second serve.

Too good!

Sinner keeps his nerve and rides a bit of luck as Nole lobs long and then clips the tape with a forehand to come up short.

Jannik serves out to love and takes a high-octane opener in 57 minutes.

Wow, that was special from Jannik Sinner.

Djokovic had looked in charge as a huge forehand and a sixth ace put him in cruise control at 40-0 up.

Jannik refused to give up though, nailing a howitzer of a return, punishing a tame volley with a clinical pass and putting away a crushing drive volley to make deuce.

The crowd senses Nole is twitching and when he double faults they roar. He sarcastically applauds them and gets whistled.

Sinner remains un-distracted and scorches a crosscourt backhand on the ensuing BP that is too hot to handle.

Cue bedlam in the stadium – the Italian will now serve for the set.

There’s the first real sign of a dip in Sinner’s standards as he sizzles a forehand into the net and then does the same with a make-able volley.

Djokovic lands a fine return at 15-30 but then bizarrely slices long and follows that by hooking a backhand way beyond the baseline.

Sinner finally finds a clutch serve and it’s still all square deep in the business end of this set.

Talk about slamming door the shut, locking it and throwing away the key!

Djokovic doesn’t give Sinner a look-in as he chalks up another clean hold, nailing a fifth ace for good measure along the way.

Sinner continues to serve brilliantly, landing a sixth ace of the contest on his way to a very tidy game to 15.

This time it’s Djoker’s turn to feel the heat as Sinner’s fizzed, low returns lure a couple of errors and intensify the crowd’s interest at 15-30.

The Serb retorts with a big forehand down the line but then slaps it into the net off the same wing to cough up break point.

Djokovic quashes the BP with a serve down the T and repeats the trick to escape from deuce and push the board in his favour once more.

Well, it feels like the warm-up is done and we are down to business.

The ball-striking is on another level at times here and Djokovic ups the ante from deuce, picking up a drops-hot following a lung-busting rally to glide a sublime crosscourt winner.

Sinner wipes the BP out with his fifth ace and assumes control with another clutch serve.

The Italian goes for a bold drop-shot in the next rally and guesses right on Novak's drilled crosscourt attempt, prodding a winning pass up the line into the open court.

Sinner has two bites at the pass at 0-15 but chooses a tight space down the line instead of the wide-open space crosscourt. Novak reads it and diverts a block-volley winner into space.

It’s the last sniff Jannik gets as Nole lands two aces and another un-returnable serve to keep his nose in front.

Sinner slams down a succession of aces to take his tally to four already before Nole finally wins a point for the returner with a vicious crosscourt forehand.

The Serb dominates the next rally too and unleashes a clean winner off the same flank up the line to make things interesting.

However, he can’t turn the screw further as a sizzles a backhand attempt into the tramlines and Sinner holds to 30 to level once more.

Djokovic showcases the ridiculous elasticity that has served him so well over the year, reaching to his right and somehow diverting a volley into the open court from Sinner’s rasping pass attempt up the line.

The Serb then rockets a wrong-footing forehand down the middle before a second ace of the match and another hefty serve notch up yet another love hold.

Sinner earns roars of delight, knocking down a trio of big first serves, including a wide ace to finish, as he follows suit with a clean hold to open.

With a confident Sinner and an Italian crowd baying for his blood, Nole knows he needs to be on it tonight and he makes a strong start courtesy of a routine love hold.

Jannik will be disappointed he didn’t make inroads at all there.

Djokovic will serve first.

The players are out on court with Sinner winning the coin toss and opting to receive.

Rune’s rapid win as a result of Stefanos Tsitsipas’ retirement earlier means Djokovic will qualify for the semi-finals tonight if he beats Sinner.

Sinner can progress to the last four if he prevails in straight sets.