After defeating No. 4 in the world Casper Ruud in straight sets on Sunday, Novak Djokovic won his sixth ATP Finals championship, tying Roger Federer’s record for the most titles ever. With the victory over Ruud in Turin, Italy, Djokovic snapped a six-year titleless streak at the ATP Finals.
The last time Djokovic won the ATP Finals was in 2015, which marked his fourth straight year winning the competition (his first victory was in 2008). After his victory on Sunday, Djokovic, 35, set a tennis record by winning all five of his matches in Turin, earning him a $4.7 million payday. He also set a new record for being the oldest player to win an ATP Finals trophy.
Djokovic, who became the first player to win an ATP Finals championship in three distinct decades, said, “Seven years, it’s been a long time, but at the same time this — the fact that I waited seven years — makes this victory even sweeter and even larger.”
This was not Djokovic’s only wait-time reduction this week. The Australian government declared on Wednesday that it will issue Djokovic a visa so he could visit the nation for the 2023 Australian Open.
Due to his refusal to receive the COVID-19 vaccination, Djokovic missed the 2022 tournament and was deported from Australia. As a result of this dramatic incident, the Serbian star was given a three-year travel ban from Australia. The grounds for his initial visa cancellation have been removed, according to Australian Minister for Immigration Andrew Giles, who announced the lifting of the suspension.
With his victory on Sunday, Djokovic now has an 18-1 record for the year. Djokovic tied Carlos Alcaraz for the most ATP titles this year with five, and he will finish the 2022 season ranked No. 5 in the top 10.
