Novak Djokovic’s winning streak was halted at 19 matches as home favourite Jannik Sinner was roared to a superb 7-5, 6-7(5), 7-6(2) victory by a partisan ATP Finals crowd on Tuesday.

The earlier Green group clash was a non-event as Stefanos Tsitsipas retired injured against Holger Rune, but the evening ticket holders were treated to a match of jaw-dropping quality.

After more than three hours of an absorbing toe-to-toe battle in which neither player took a backward step, it was the world No. 4 Sinner who seized his chance in the deciding set tie-break finally to crack Novak’s resistance.

Sinner, 14 years Novak’s junior, wrapped up his first career win against the 24-time grand slam champion with a smash — prompting deafening roars from a sell-out crowd who produced an electrifying atmosphere throughout.

He moves top of the group but is not yet guaranteed a semi-final spot ahead of his final round-robin match against Rune on Thursday. Novak, who will end the year as No.1 for a record-stretching eighth time, takes on Hubert Hurkacz knowing a win will put him in the semi-finals.

Sinner has enjoyed his best year on Tour and now has 59 match wins in 2023, but none would have given him more pleasure than taking down six-time ATP Finals champion Djokovic.

The Italian moved 2-0 ahead in the deciding tie-break with a rocket of a forehand return and then gave himself daylight with another forehand winner to make it 3-0.

Once he moved 5-0 ahead not even Djokovic’s powers of recovery could spare the Serb his first loss since defeat by Carlos Alcaraz in the Wimbledon final.

“It’s a sort of process, I feel that I’m more confident in certain moments,” Sinner told Amazon Prime.

“In the second set tie-break, he played a bit better than me but I think I was brave in the big moments.”