On Monday, Novak Đoković was presented with the trophy for the player who ends the year at the top of the world rankings for the eighth time in his great career.
Djokovic only needed one win at the ATP Finals to stay on top. Which the holder of 24 career Grand Slam titles got Sunday night by beating Holger Rune 7-6 (4), 6-7 (1), 6-3 in the tournament’s curtain-raiser.
On Monday afternoon, ATP president Andrea Gaudenzi presented the Serbian with the prestigious trophy. Djokovic then took a pose in the company of his coaches, physical trainers and his loved ones.
“Obviously it’s the icing on the ice cream, because finishing the season as number one in the world is the dream of every tennis player,” said the main interested party. This is the most difficult thing to achieve in our sport. There is nothing more difficult than winning Grand Slam tournaments and ending the year as number one in the world. »
The 36-year-old veteran already surpassed Pete Sampras’ record for the longest reign (six years at number one in the world) two years ago.
Last year, Carlos Alcaraz won the trophy.
Djokovic, however, bounced back this year by winning three of the four Grand Slam titles, and was second behind Alcaraz at Wimbledon.
“It is a great success and I am very proud of this achievement,” admitted Djokovic.
He will now face local favorite Italian Jannik Sinner on Tuesday.
The first two tennis players from each of the two groups will advance to the semi-finals. There are no Canadians in this competition.
