GAME, SETTE AND MATCH FOR DJOKOVIC IN TURIN

Novak Djokovic defeats Jannik Sinner in straight sets to capture ATP Finals title no.7

By Stephen Higgins | 20th November 2023

Novak Djokovic added yet another tennis record to his CV as he secured a seventh ATP Finals title on Sunday with a comfortable 6-3 6-3 victory over world no.4 Jannik Sinner.

In doing so, the 36-year-old separates himself from Roger Federer on six year-end crowns, and adds further distance to Pete Sampras and Ivan Lendl on five.

Djokovic’s success at the Pala Alpitour caps another extraordinary season for the 24-time major winner.

Djokovic will finish the 2023 season year-end no.1 for a record eighth time after winning three of the four grand slams (Australian Open, Roland Garros and US Open), making the final of Wimbledon, and earning three other titles at Adelaide, Cincinnati and Paris. The Serb is also into his 400th week as world no.1, almost a century more than the next best man (Federer on 302 weeks).

As he has done countless times before, Djokovic triumphed in Turin thanks to his unerring consistency, (still) phenomenal movement and singular mental toughness when it really matters.

Djokovic certainly had to fight during the week against the world’s best.

In the opener, it took three sets and over three hours to prevail over world no.8 Holger Rune. Then, Djokovic was upset by home favourite Sinner 5-7 7-6 (5) 6-7 (2) in the second match. The world no.1 only confirmed his place in the semi-finals thanks to another three set win over alternate Hubert Hurkacz.

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But if the group matches saw Djokovic limber up, the knockout stage witnessed the Serb in full sprint.

In the last four, Djokovic was far too solid and clever for the Wimbledon champion, Carlos Alcaraz. The befuddled Spaniard was dispatched 6-3 6-2 in under 90 minutes as the Serb garnered more than 40% of points on return.

Then, in Sunday’s final, Djokovic got revenge over Sinner for the group stage with a straight sets victory. The result nudges their head-to-head to 4-1 in the veteran’s favour.

“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,” said Djokovic afterwards.

“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.”

Djokovic currently has 98 tour titles and on-court earnings of over $175 million. He plans to play the 2024 season-opening United Cup at the end of December before pursuing Australian Open title no.11 in January.