Turin: The merciless Novak Djokovic destroyed local favorite Jannik Sinner to win the ATP Finals title for a record seventh time on Sunday – reaching another milestone in his incredible career.
The 36-year-old Serbian lost to local favorite Sinner earlier in the week in the group stage, but took sweet revenge with a sublime performance to claim a 6-3, 6-3 victory.
A packed house at Turin’s Pala Alpitour had hoped to cheer Sinner, 22, to the biggest title of his career, but Djokovic was simply in a different league.
The world number one lost just two points on serve in a flawless first set and once he broke Sinner’s serve in the fourth game, it was largely one-way traffic.
At one point, Djokovic won 14 straight points against a player ranked fourth in the world before Sinner briefly slowed the 24-time Grand Slam champion’s march.
Sinner avoided a double break of serve as Djokovic surprisingly failed to make a routine passing shot and Sinner then had points to salvage in the sixth game but was unable to convert any of them.
Djokovic also failed to convert break points that would have given him a 5-2 lead as a few errors crept into his game.
The crowd did their best to energize their man but Djokovic cruised to victory and a double fault from Sinner ended the fight. Djokovic overtakes Roger Federer to become the most successful player in tournament history.
His victory concludes an individual season in which he has won three of four Grand Slam titles and regained the world No. 1 spot from Carlos Alcaraz and, worryingly for the chasing pack, which he will lead in 2024, appears more dominant than ever.
“It’s very special,” said Djokovic, accompanied by his children Stefan and Tara, on court.
“One of the best seasons I’ve had and to top it off against Jannik who played so well is phenomenal.
“The way Carlos (Alcaraz) and Jannik played, I had to step up.”
Djokovic also outclassed Spaniard Alcaraz in Saturday’s semi-final, although his place in the last four was uncertain after his narrow defeat to Sinner in one of the matches of the year. Ironically, it was Sinner’s subsequent loss to Holger Rune that kept Djokovic alive at the end of the year.
