Top-seeded Novak Djokovic of Serbia won his record seventh title at the Nitto ATP Finals by defeating fourth-seeded Italian Jannik Sinner 6-3, 6-3 Sunday in Turin, Italy.
Djokovic won his second straight ATP Finals and broke a tie with Swiss legend Roger Federer for the most all-time. He finished his 2023 season with an incredible 55-6 match record.
“It’s one of the best seasons I’ve had in my life, no doubt,” Djokovic said. “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 (Carlos) Alcaraz and Sinner, probably the best two players in the world next to me and (Daniil) Medvedev at the moment — and the way they have been playing, I had to step it up.”
Djokovic, 36, also captured three of the four Grand Slams this season. At Wimbledon, he lost to Alcaraz in five sets in the final.
Djokovic defeated Alcaraz 6-3, 6-2 in the semifinals Saturday to set up another meeting with Sinner, who had won their match in the round-robin group stage earlier in the week.
“I had to win the matches and not wait for them to hand me the victory and that’s what I’ve done,” Djokovic said of the season finale. “I think I played different tactically than I did in the group stage against Jannik, and just overall it was a phenomenal week.”
Djokovic finished the match with a 13-8 edge in aces, committed only five unforced errors and won a whopping 29 of his 32 first-service points (90.6 percent). He saved both break points he faced while breaking Sinner three times in eight opportunities.
The Italian crowd sang to Sinner even as he came up short of the title.
“The last three months I have played and improved a lot, but even today I saw that we can still improve,” Sinner said post-match in Italian.
“The positive things about this 2023 however are different. I am a different player compared to the beginning of the year. You welcomed me like a little child, thank you very much.”
Djokovic also won the ATP Finals in 2008 and 2012 through 2015.
–Field Level Media