Novak Djokovic secured a record-extending eighth year-end No. 1 ranking after beating Denmark’s Holger Rune in his first group stage match of the 2023 ATP Finals on Sunday.
Djokovic is in the Green Group of the year-end championship in Turin, Italy, alongside Rune, Jannik Sinner and Stefanos Tsitsipas. The Serb dashed Carlos Alcaraz’s slim chances of finishing the season atop the ATP rankings by beating Rune, who’s working with his ex-coach Boris Becker.
The 24-time Grand Slam champion won the hard-fought contest 7-6(4), 6-7(1), 6-3.
Djokovic’s record 400th week as World No. 1 is assured when the rankings are updated on Nov. 20. The next closest ATP player to him in the list is Roger Federer (310 weeks), who’s now retired.
The 36-year-old also extended his lead over Pete Sampras, who is second in the all-time list of most year-end No. 1 finishes (six). Roger Federer, Jimmy Connors and Rafael Nadal round up the top five with five finishes apiece.
Novak Djokovic: “It was a very emotional win knowing if I won I was going to clinch the year-end No. 1”
Novak Djokovic in action at the 2023 Nitto ATP Finals
In his on-court interview, Novak Djokovic discussed his win over Holger Rune. He praised his 20-year-old opponent for putting up a good fight and described the victory as “emotional”, as he knew that the World No. 1 ranking was at stake.
“I thought he played great. I played great at some moments. At some moments I dropped the level, but overall a win is a win,” the ATP Finals website quoted the Serb as saying.
“It was a very emotional win and a tough win because of the significance of tonight’s match, obviously knowing that if I won I was going to clinch the year-end No. 1. So that was added pressure and tension, but after a terrible second-set tie-break I think I played a really solid deciding set,” he added further.
The 24-time Grand Slam champion is looking to go past Roger Federer’s ATP Finals record of six wins. He faces a difficult task ahead with group matches against home favorite Jannik Sinner and Stefanos Tsitsipas.
Quick Links
More from Sportskeeda