Novak Djokovic Ends the Season As No. 1 Once Again

Novak Djokovic defeated world No. 8 Holger Rune in his opening match at the Nitto ATP Finals in 3 tough sets to win 7-6, 6-7, 6-3 in 3 hours and 4 minutes. Djokovic is confirmed to end this season with a record-extending eighth year-end No. 1 presented by Pepperstone after securing the win over the Dane in the round-robin.

© Corinne Dubreuil / ATP Tour 

The young Dane did not make the opening match straightforward for the top seed as he had to dig deep to win. In the first set, Rune struck first as he broke and led Djokovic 3-2. However, the latter broke back immediately and levelled the game at 3-3. They both played at a high level and went on to play a tie-break in the first. The Serb proved extraordinary in tie-breaks this season winning 4 points off Rune’s serve to claim his 29th tie-break win this season and the first set after 72 minutes. 

The intensity of the second dropped a little after the long first set, but they were still able to go on long exchanges and rallies as both were extremely good defenders. Rune found himself leading 6-0 in the tie-break and wasted no time to claim the second forcing a decider. However, Rune failed to keep his momentum and Djokovic claimed the fourth break of the match in the sixth game of the third and served out the set to claim the win over Rune. 

The sixth-time Nitto ATP Finals Champion and top seed Djokovic is also looking to lift another trophy at the ATP Finals. He is also set to extend his own record, breaking 400 weeks as world No. 1 on 20th November and extending his own record as the oldest year-end No. 1 in the Pepperstone ATP Ranking History at 36 years old. Extraordinary achievement by Novak Djokovic, and I wonder if he is ever going to stop winning.