Photo: François Goglins via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0, cropped. This adapted image is also licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Novak Djokovic has won the ATP Finals for a record seventh time. The 36-year-old beat home favorite Jannik Sinner 6-3, 6-3 in the final in Turin on Sunday, November 19, in an hour and 43 minutes.
It breaks his tie with Roger Federer, who won the season finale six times. Sinner had beaten Djokovic in the group stage, but the Serbian turned that around in style, winning 20 of 22 points on his serve in the first set and hitting 13 aces in the match, according to the official tournament report.
The title tops off another record. Djokovic had already made sure of finishing the year as world No. 1 for an eighth time, more than any other player, by winning his opening match of the week. On Monday he starts his 400th week at the top of the rankings, the first player ever to get there, the Associated Press reports.
He finished the season 55-6 and reached the final of all four Grand Slams as well as this one.
It's one of the best seasons I've had in my life, no doubt. To crown it with a win against a hometown hero in Jannik, who has played amazing tennis this week, is phenomenal.
Djokovic describes himself as plant-based, and he has long said his diet is about more than winning tennis matches. He told reporters after his 2020 Australian Open semi-final that people around him doubted the change would work, as VegNews reported:
It's more than a performance reason for me, it's a lifestyle, it's something I'm really proud of. Hopefully, that community grows even more; hopefully, I can inspire other athletes that it is possible to be plant-based.
Nearly four years on, he is beating players 14 years younger than him in finals.
A year ago in Turin Djokovic won the ATP Finals to equal Federer's six titles, and in September the plant-based star won his 24th Grand Slam at 36. Two years ago he clinched a record seventh year-end No. 1.
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