Novak Djokovic Reflects on 2023 Season After Victory Over Holger Rune

At the press conference after his victory over Holger Rune, Novak Djokovic assessed how successful he has been in the current calendar year – at least to a certain extent.

The Serb was asked after the match against the Dane, coached by Boris Becker, at the ATP Finals whether 2023 had been the best season of his career.

The 36-year-old replied: “No, I wouldn’t say it was the best year, but one of the best.” Although he won three of the four Grand Slams at the Australian, French and US Opens and was in the final at Wimbledon, he has the feeling that he was more dominant in 2011 and 2015.

The reason given by the world number one was that in these years, in addition to comparable successes at the annual highlights, he had competed in more tournaments and won more games.

Djokovic: Difficult comparison

“I played very few, (the) fewest tournaments of all. I simply reached my performance peaks at the right moment,” said Djokovic with a view to 2023.

The Grand Slam record was one of his best, but it was difficult to compare different years, the record Grand Slam winner concluded his remarks.

The Serb also said that it “means a lot” to him to end the year as number one in the tennis world for the eighth time. “I was very eager to win the match and get out of trouble,” said the Serbian Grand Slam record winner after his win against Rune. It was therefore clear that he would also occupy the top position at the beginning of 2024.

Djokovic: “Alles andere Bonus”

“I won Paris, which put me in a much better position in the rankings, and I knew I only had to win one more game in Turin,” said Djokovic after the hard-fought 7:6 (7:4), 6:7 (1:7), 6:3 win against Boris Becker’s protégé: “A big goal has been achieved, everything else is now a bonus.”

Djokovic extended his record. The American Pete Sampras was at the top of the world rankings a total of six times at the end of the year, followed by his compatriot Jimmy Connors, the Swiss Roger Federer and the Spaniard Rafael Nadal (five each).

This means that Djokovic, who won all Grand Slam tournaments this season except for Wimbledon (final defeat against Carlos Alcaraz), will also break the 400-week mark as number one in the world.

Djokovic beats Rune in a thrilling three-set fight

2023-11-13 12:27:00
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