Novak Djokovic finished the year the same way he began it, by scripting records. Top-ranked Djokovic won his seventh ATP Finals championship with a straight-sets triumph over home favorite Jannik Sinner on Sunday. The higher the stakes, the higher the performance of the Serbian star. This has always been one of Djokovic’s essential foundations of success as he has swept away all of the major trophies in sight so many times, and it has also been wonderfully illustrated throughout another glorious week in Turin.
Five days after Jannik Sinner played some of his best tennis to edge Djokovic after three arduous hours in their round-robin duel, Djokovic simply raised his performance to levels Sinner could not equal, routinely defeating the Italian 6-3, 6-3 to win the ATP Finals.
The Serb has now won seven ATP Finals titles, breaking his tie with Roger Federer, and is closing in on his century with 98 titles, a feat only Jimmy Connors (109) and Federer (103) have achieved in the men’s game. On Monday, Djokovic will celebrate his 400th week as world No. 1, now 90 weeks longer than Federer in second place. Djokovic has won four of the five major titles this year, including the Australian Open, French Open, US Open, and ATP Finals, with only an inspiring effort from Carlos Alcaraz at Wimbledon keeping him from winning it all. He concludes the ATP season with seven titles and a winning record of 55-6.
Djokovic reached the final following a dominant performance in the semi-final against a youngster, Alcaraz, in which he lost only five games. Djokovic easily continued up where he left off less than 24 hours later.
Sinner’s serve improvements have justifiably gotten a lot of attention in recent months, especially this week, but it was Djokovic’s serve that dominated throughout, demonstrating how the shot has evolved in recent years. He served flawlessly, hitting seven aces in the first set and giving up only two points on his serve against one of the best returners.
Djokovic is aiming for additional glory in 2024 when Paris will host the Olympics, the only big event he has yet to win. Well, you can win four Grand Slams and an Olympic gold medal, the Serbian said. I’ve always had lofty objectives and goals. And, that’s not going to change in the coming year, I’m sure. The drive that I have remains, he added. Motivation is still present, especially for the biggest tournaments in the sports. Grand Slams and Finals are important to me, as is the Olympic Games next year, he concluded.
