The best in the history of tennis? What records does Novak Djokovic have left to beat?
Alexander Nasonov November 20, 2023, 15:15 Moscow time Audio version: Your browser does not support the audio element.
We describe the most significant achievements of the famous Serbian tennis player, who won the ATP Final Championship for the seventh time.
On Sunday, November 19, Novak Djokovic achieved another historic achievement. The 36-year-old Serbian tennis player won the ATP final for the seventh time in his career, defeating the 22-year-old Italian Jannik Sinner in the final 6: 3, 6: 3. If it weren’t for Sinner, Djokovic wouldn’t be in the playoffs. Yannick won a group match with Holger Rune, who for him had no importance in the tournament, and thus helped Novak reach the semi-finals from second place. But this is a fair sport. And claims that the Serbian should have thanked the Italian for this in the final are inappropriate.
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“There is no doubt that this season has become one of the best of my life. And it’s great to end it with a victory over local hero Yannick, who has been playing some great tennis this week.
I’m very proud of my performance against Alcaraz and Sinner, who are arguably the two best players in the world right now. I had to improve, I had to beat myself and not wait for victory. And I did it. Great week,” Novak said after the game.
Novak Djokovic and Jannik Sinner after the final of the 2023 ATP Final Championship in Turin
Photo: Clive Brunskill/Getty Images
For many years, the leaders in the number of titles in the finals were the Czech Ivan Lendl and the American Pete Sampras. Lendl won his fifth final in 1987 and Sampras in 1999. For a long time no one could even think of overtaking them. But then Roger Federer’s star arose. In 2010, the Swiss repeated the record and in 2011 he broke it, winning his sixth title.
However, Federer’s achievement lasted much shorter than expected. And Djokovic is “to blame” for it. He won his first final in 2008, when he was only 21 years old. And from 2012 to 2015, the Serbian had no equal in the tournament that was held in London in those years. Then Novak was unable to win a sixth title for a long time, but a year ago, already in Turin, he finally achieved his goal, equaling Federer. And on November 19, 2023, he finally left Roger behind.
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Other Djokovic records
Novak is a 24-time Grand Slam champion. And in this indicator he also has no equal. In the foreseeable future, it is unlikely that anyone will catch up with him. Except that Rafael Nadal can, but the Spaniard’s health is no longer the same… Here too the leadership long belonged to Sampras, who finished his career with 14 Grand Slams. But first Federer passed him and then Nadal. And Djokovic left them all behind! Nadal has “only” 22 TBS titles, and Federer has even less, 20. Furthermore, Roger, who retired in September 2022, will no longer be able to increase this number.
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When it comes to titles at the Masters, Djokovic excels here as well. The Serbian has won tournaments in this category 40 times. Nadal has four fewer trophies. And Federer won 28 Masters in his career.
Returning to the final, we can remember that at the beginning of the tournament Novak won the title of first racket in the world at the end of the season, for the eighth time in his career. And he increased his lead over Sampras (6), Federer and Nadal (both 5).
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Furthermore, in terms of the number of weeks leading the ranking, Djokovic will open his fifth century. Novak, even in theory, cannot lose his lead until January 8, 2024. This means that by then he will have a 406-week lead. The closest to him is Federer at 310 weeks.
In terms of prize money, the Serbian is also ahead of the rest. Taking into account the final, Djokovic has $180,643,353 in prize money. Also in the top 3 are Nadal ($134,640,719) and Federer ($130,594,339).
What records has Djokovic not broken yet?
98 titles in his career allow the Serbian to be among the top 3. Novak could well surpass Roger Federer, who has 103 trophies at the ATP level. And Jimmy Connors’ record (109) appears to be under threat, although it will surely be more difficult to beat.
In terms of number of matches won, Djokovic is also second only to Connors and Federer. The Serbian has won 1,086 fights, while the American and the Swiss have won 1,274 and 1,251 respectively. It will be even more difficult to conquer these achievements, since Novak does not particularly pursue quantity, but quality.
