“That was a phenomenal end to an outstanding season for me,” said Djokovic. “I beat Carlos Alcaraz in the semifinals and the local hero, who played fantastic tennis this week, in the final. It’s phenomenal.”
The world number one once again wrote history, as he did with his Grand Slam titles 22 to 24 this year in Melbourne, Paris and New York. Only at Wimbledon did he lose to Alcaraz in the final. The Djoker is still the measure of all things.
The fact that he was able to compete in the final was also due to the audience’s favorite Sinner, who only suffered his first defeat in the last match of the tournament and missed out on the record fee of around 4.8 million US dollars.
Because Djokovic had lost his group game against Sinner in three sets and then only reached the semi-finals thanks to his help. There he impressed against Alcaraz, who was 16 years his junior – and then also against Sinner in the second attempt.
Djokovic moves even closer to Connors
It was Djokovic’s 98th tournament victory, he is only seven more short of the American Jimmy Connors’ record (105). Djokovic finished 2023 as number one in the world rankings for the eighth time.
The best German at the top-class event is Boris Becker with three titles. Alexander Zverev, who missed the semi-finals this year despite two wins in the preliminary round, follows with his triumphs from 2018 and 2021.
Djokovic ennobles Sinner: “Knocking on the Grand Slam final door”