ATP Finals: Novak Djokovic, champion for the sixth time, with a record and back in the fight for world number 1

End-to-end champion. With his stamp of legend still valid, Novak Djokovic swept the Turin Masters final y He won the ATP Tour Finals for the sixth time in his career., the year-end contest that brings together the eight best tennis players of the season. With a 7-5 and 6-3 victory over the Norwegian Casper Ruud, Djokovic, 35, celebrated a title that allows him to close a year with less activity than usual in great shape, especially due to his decision not to want to get vaccinated against Covid, which banned him from entering several countries and the consequent absence in large tournaments.

In any case, Djokovic passed with authority on Italian soil. In Turin he raised the 91st trophy of his career and the fifth in 2022 that also saw him win in Astana, Tel Aviv, the Masters 1000 in Rome and Wimbledon; the latter, it is worth remembering, without points for the tour. If the Serbian had been able to add the corresponding 2,000 points, he would have equaled the 6,820 points that Carlos Alcaraz collected, the number 1 in the world. For now, due to what was done this week, she climbed from the eighth to the fifth step of the weekly classification.

In the decider, Djokovic pulled away late in the first set, scoring a vital break in the twelfth game to take the opening chapter, then handling the second set with ease after taking an early break. At the end of the game there was an ace to the ‘T’, relentless to seal a victory that brought him back to the fore. Among the records that this victory gave him, stands out the one of being the Oldest player to win the year-end Masters: With his 35 years and 6 months, Nole improved the mark that Roger Federer had established, which was crowned at 30 years and 4 months in 2011. And another historical record for Djokovic: the undefeated championship brought him an income of $4,740,300, the highest prize for a champion of singles in the history of professional tennis.

“They are final. Usually, these types of matches are decided by a very small margin. One break was enough in each set. He knew that Ruud was playing really well this week. We both served well, but I think that in the decisive moments I was able to put pressure with the return. I tried to be very aggressive and that worked, I am very happy with my performance, ”said Nole, who as soon as the final was over went to hug his two children, Stefan and Tara. “This year has been a roller coaster, something that had never happened to me. Only we know what we have been through,” he added.

Thus, the former number 1 in the world achieved his sixth Master’s crown -he reached Federer in number of successes-, after their previous titles in 2008 (in Shanghai), and in 2012, 2013, 2014 and 2015 (at the London headquarters); four of them obtained them undefeated. Victory in Turin earns you 1500 points and repositions Djokovic in the rankingwhich was 2000 units from Alcaraz and has nothing to defend on the first tour of the year.

It is worth noting that, in January of this year, the Balkan was unable to play the Australian Open when he was expelled by the government of that country, due to his refusal to receive the anti-Covid vaccine. If in 2023 he can enter Melbourne, he will very possibly again be a candidate at the Australian Open that he won nine times, and challenge the young Carlos Alcaraz in a generational fight for dominance on the men’s tour. As of today, the Australian authorities confirmed that they will grant him a visa. Other tournaments that the former world number 1 missed this year were the US Open and four Masters 1000: Indian Wells, Miami, Canada and Cincinnati.

On his side, Ruud completed an excellent participation in the ATP Finals. the norwegian established himself as number 3 in the worldy in the next few hours it will arrive in our country to play an exhibition with Rafael Nadal at Parque Roca in Buenos Aires, next Wednesday, in what will be the first chapter of a Latin American tour with numbers 2 and 3 in the ranking. Ruud completed a formidable season, with three titles (Buenos Aires, Geneva and Gstaad) and finals at Roland Garros, US Open and the Masters. Of course, he continues without finding a way around Djokovic: he lost the four times he faced him, without even snatching a set. An aspect to improve if he intends to aspire to more in the ranking, since he has not yet achieved victories against rivals located at the top, such as Nadal (0-2) and Alcaraz (0-3).