Djokovic locked in the year-end No. 1 ranking for the eighth time
China Sports News reporter Ma Yiou
After a three-hour hard-fought battle, Djokovic locked in the world‘s year-end No. 1 ranking for the eighth time. The 36-year-old Serbian veteran is still full of fighting spirit despite the impact of young players.
The 2023 ATP Men’s Professional Tennis Year-End Finals kicked off in Turin on November 12, local time in Italy. The special significance of Djokovic’s first match is that as long as he wins, he can lock in the year-end number one and continue to rewrite the tennis record he created.
The players participating in the year-end finals are all experts among experts. The eight players with the best performance throughout the year will compete. No one can be absolutely sure. Djokovic and his first opponent Rune had played against each other 4 times before, winning two games each, and every game was very intense, and there was never a one-sided game.
The same is true for this game. The first two sets were tie-breaks. Djokovic was the first to be broken in the first two sets. Although he was the first to establish an advantage in the deciding set, Rune broke back immediately. In the end, Djokovic defeated Rune 7-6, 6-7, 6-3.
Djokovic is full of motivation in this game because he is very eager to continue making history. From the 24th Grand Slam title to the 40th Masters title, and then locking in the year-end No. 1 ranking for the eighth time, the number of weeks No. 1 in the world will reach 400 next week, which are all new tennis records he set this year.
Djokovic said bluntly a few years ago that if his two old rivals Federer and Nadal left tennis, he would not stay for long. This is undoubtedly a hero cherishing a hero, and one is lonely without a real opponent. However, young players have grown very rapidly in the past two years. For example, among the players shortlisted for the year-end finals this time, there are three “post-00s” players in Alcaraz, Sinner and Rune. Djokovic enjoys this feeling of competition.
After Djokovic defeated Rune, he said that this game really made him give everything he had, and he was full of praise for his opponent’s performance: “I had to work very hard. His hitting felt very good, very sharp, and extremely Aggressive, he hits every short ball, and he serves really well. I think he’s playing at a very high level.”
Winning this game also helped Djokovic relieve some pressure. He said that this victory meant a lot to him, and he was full of emotions when he was on the court because he was very eager to win this game. “Now that a big goal has been achieved, the rest are additional rewards.” He said.