Going into Sunday's final against Alexander Zverev, Novak Djokovic had won 35 of his previous 37 matches and, despite an off-night, still looks capable of dominating men's tennis next year.
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Novak Djokovic failed to replicate his tennis in the final
of ATP Finals going down to Alexander Zverev. (Source: Reuters)
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Considering where Novak Djokovic began his year he was able
to quickly put his defeat by fast-rising German Alexander Zverev in the ATP
Finals title match into perspective on Sunday.
The 31-year-old Serb was odds on to crown a magnificent
six-month streak by claiming a record-equalling sixth ATP Finals crown but
Zverev stopped him in his tracks, winning 6-4 6-3.
Djokovic will still end a year ranked as number one for the
fifth time, an improbable achievement considering he had elbow surgery in
February, suffered a woeful run of form on his return and slumped to 22 in the
world rankings in June.
After reuniting with his former mentor Marian Vajda, he has
been a man reborn and began a storming comeback to the summit of men’s tennis,
winning Wimbledon and the U.S. Open to take his Grand Slam collection to 14.
Going into Sunday’s final against Zverev he had won 35 of
his previous 37 matches and, despite an off-night, still looks capable of
dominating men’s tennis next year.
“If someone told me (I would end the year as number one) at
that time it was looking quite improbable,” he told reporters.
“Not just ranking-wise, I wasn’t playing even close to where
I wanted to be at in terms of level of tennis.
“No one likes to lose, and I’ve just come off court but you
put things in a larger perspective, see things a bit differently. All the
positive things that I have to reflect on and also take from this season,
especially the last six months.”
Djokovic was uncharacteristically ragged against Zverev, but
took nothing away from his opponent, even though he said he had not been
feeling fully-charged for a few weeks.
“I’m happy that he won the big title because we have a
really good and friendly relationship,” Djokovic said of his fellow Monte Carlo
resident. “We train a lot. We see each other a lot. He comes from a really nice
family.
“Health-wise I haven’t been really perfect in the last
three, four weeks. That took a lot out of me. But overall it was a phenomenal
season that I have to be definitely very proud of.”
Source:https://indianexpress.com/article/sports/tennis/atp-finals-novak-djokovic-5453037/
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