A merciless Novak Djokovic defeated home favourite Jannik Sinner to win the ATP Finals for a record seventh time, marking yet another significant achievement in his amazing career. The 36-year-old Serb suffered a 6-3 6-3 loss in the group round earlier this week against home favourite Sinner, but he exacted revenge with a stunning performance.
The Pala Alpitour in Turin was packed to capacity, with supporters hoping to see the 22-year-old Sinner win the biggest championship of his career, but Djokovic was just too good.
After breaking Sinner’s serve in the fourth game, the world number one lost just two points on the serve and the rest of the game was pretty much one-way traffic.
Djokovic beat a player ranked fourth in the world for 14 straight points at one point, but Sinner momentarily stopped the 24-time Grand Slam champion’s progress.
Djokovic suddenly missed to make a passing shot, saving Sinner from a double break of service. In the sixth game, Sinner had two breakback opportunities but failed to convert both. A few mistakes also found their way into Djokovic’s game, as he was unable to convert break points that would have given him a 5-2 lead.
The audience did everything in its could to get their guy more energy, but Djokovic advanced and won the match thanks to a double fault from Sinner. Roger Federer gets surpassed by Djokovic to become the tournament’s all-time greatest player.
His victory caps off a year in which he captured three of the four Grand Slam championships, reclaimed the top spot in the global rankings from Carlos Alcaraz, and, worrisomely for the rest of the field, seems set to be as dominant as ever going into 2024.