Djokovic wins record seventh ATP Finals title, defeating Sinner in straight sets

Novak Djokovic ended the year just as he started it: setting records.

Top-ranked Djokovic won a record seventh ATP Finals title on Sunday with a straight-sets victory over home favorite Jannik Sinner.

It took Djokovic one hour and 43 minutes to win 6-3, 6-3 as the Serbian continues to break records at 36 years old.

He began 2023 with a record-extending 10th Australian Open title and won his 23rd Grand Slam tournament at the French Open, breaking Rafael Nadal’s mark. Djokovic, who lost the Wimbledon final to Carlos Alcaraz, also won the US Open.

“Without a doubt, one of the best seasons I’ve had in my life,” Djokovic said from Turin, Italy. “To top it off with a win against a local hero like Jannik, who has played some incredible tennis this week, is phenomenal.”

Djokovic came into the match tied with Roger Federer on six titles in the season-ending tournament for the year’s top eight players.

And he stretched his arms and smiled widely after getting his seventh when Sinner double-faulted.

The victory had echoes of the clinical manner in which Djokovic dispatched second-placed Carlos Alcaraz in Saturday’s semi-final match.

‘Phenomenal week’

“I’m very proud of the performances these last two days against Alcaraz and Sinner, probably the two best players in the world next to Medvedev and myself at the moment, and the way they have been playing, I had to improve.” Djokovic said.

“I had to win the games and not wait for the victory and that’s what I’ve done. I think tactically I played differently today than I did in the group stage against Jannik, and overall it was a phenomenal week.” “.

It was his fourth victory over Sinner, who had achieved his first victory against Djokovic in the group stage in Turin and was the first Italian to reach the final.

But Djokovic was in imperious form on Sunday, winning 14 points in a row from the end of the first set to the third game of the second to put him firmly in control and subdue the Turin crowd.

Djokovic had already secured the year-end No. 1 ranking for a record eighth time by winning his first match at the ATP Finals.

Following this tournament, Djokovic will become the first player to hold the number one ranking for 400 weeks, with Roger Federer at 310 being the only other man to eclipse the 300-week mark.

It was also only the second time in the last 15 years that a player reached the final of all four Grand Slam tournaments and the ATP Finals. The only previous occasion was when Djokovic did it in 2015.