This season Novak Djokovic is the player who looked hungrier and more motivated, who tried to find ways to improve over recent past performances, who blended raw athleticism with attention to detail in a way that none of his younger opponents could match.
From the first ATP 500 championship at Adelaide, the Serbian kept improving with a ferocious speed that even at 36 he comfortably became the first player to make year-end world No. 1 for the 8th time. Furthermore, Djokovic showed class in Turin as he defeated Italian favourite Jannik Sinner to win a record 7th Nitto ATP Finals.
Novak Djokovic wins 7th ATP Finals
Novak Djokovic was in masterclass form starting from the group stage to the final where he beat Jannik Sinner in the Nitto ATP Finals title match. Following the great performance and victory, the 36-year-old star now stands with a record seven crowns at the season finale. Djokovic overcame Jannik Sinner at his very best in a 6-3, 6-3 win, in a tense match that lasted one hour 43-minute, losing just two points in his first seven service games to surge ahead.
“It’s one of the best seasons I’ve had in my life, no doubt,” Djokovic said at the close of a 55-6 campaign. “To crown it with a win against a hometown hero in Jannik, who has played amazing tennis this week, is phenomenal. I’m very proud of the performances these past two days against Alcaraz and Sinner, probably the best two players in the world next to me and Medvedev at the moment — and the way they have been playing, I had to step it up.”
“I had to win the matches and not wait for them to hand me the victory and that’s what I’ve done. I think I played different tactically than I did in the group stage against Jannik, and just overall it was a phenomenal week.”
In the group stage Novak Djokovic was beaten by Italian favourite Jannik Sinner but emphatically turned that result around in the final, a feat he also accomplished against Swiss legend Roger Federer at the 2015 season finale. Federer has won his sixth Nitto ATP Finals eight years ago and has now been surpassed by Novak Djokovic with his 7th who became a new record setter in the season finale title.
Novak Djokovic surpasses Roger Federer
Novak Djokovic recorded another memorable year by etching his name in the history books once again after defeating Jannik Sinner in Turin to win his record-breaking seventh Nitto ATP Finals title. Previously, the Serbian star shared the tournament record with Roger Federer (6 ATP Finals titles).
He also marked his 71st ‘Big Title’, which is a combination of 24 Grand Slam championships, 7 Nitto ATP Finals title and 40 ATP Masters 1000 tournaments, and Olympic singles gold medals. This season Novak Djokovic had a 55-6 win-loss record, winning three of four majors, a seventh year-end championship and eighth year-end No. 1, including a 3-1 record against Carlos Alcaraz, who was expected to pass him by this season.
Six of the ATP Tour-leading seven trophies Djokovic has earned this year have been ‘Big Titles’. It is the most he has claimed in a season since 2016. Of the titles Djokovic has won, more than 72 per cent of them have been ‘Big Titles’.
The victory at the ATP Finals in Turin has taken Novak Djokovic’s tally to a 98-time tour-level title becoming the third player aiming to eclipse the 100-titles mark, as Jimmy Connors comes first in the list with 109 titles and Roger Federer second with 103 titles.
