Novak Djokovic won a record seventh ATP Finals title with a dominant victory over Jannik Sinner, which marked another milestone in his memorable season.
The Serb, 36, who lost to the Italians in the group stage, avenged that with a 6-3 win in Turin, Italy.
He has set records in rankings and titles this year and played some of his best tennis against the youngsters, like Sinner, trying to challenge him.
“One of the best seasons I’ve had in my life, no doubt,” Djokovic said.
“It’s very special. To crown it against a hometown hero in Jannik this week is phenomenal,” he added in comments to Amazon Prime.
“Tactically, I played differently today than in the group stage against Jannik. Overall, a phenomenal week.”
Before the singles final, there was British success in the doubles when Joe Salisbury and American partner Rajeev Ram retained their title with a straight-set win over Marcel Granollers and Horacio Zeballos.
From the outset of Sunday’s final, it was clear that world number one Djokovic was determined to surpass Roger Federer’s six ATP Finals title wins and claim the outright record.
He established control with an early break and dropped just two points on his serve in an almost flawless display to take the opening set.
A break to love in the opening game of the second set put Djokovic further ahead and made Sinner’s dream of becoming the event’s first Italian champion in front of a noisy home crowd seem impossible.
Sinner’s first break-point chances came in the sixth game of the second set when he went 15-40 on the usually impenetrable Djokovic serve, but the 24-time Grand Slam champion swiftly snuffed out the threat by forcing his opponent into errors from the back of the court.
Djokovic had the chance to go a double breakup in the following game but, in a rare moment of fallibility, instead missed a straightforward volley before Sinner held with an ace.
But he got his chance in the Italian’s next service game, with Sinner tamely handing over victory with a double fault on Djokovic’s first match point.
The Italian’s performance against the Serb on Tuesday was a stark contrast to their previous match, where a victory in three sets put an end to Djokovic’s 19-match winning streak.
However, Djokovic showcased a different level of play compared to before, as he capitalised on his impressive performance against world number two Carlos Alcaraz in Saturday’s semi-finals. This led to an exceptional display, highlighted by his remarkable achievement of winning an astounding 91% of first-serve points.
“The way Carlos and Jannik have been playing, I had to step it up,” said Djokovic, who must now surely go into next season as a favourite to dominate yet again and strive for yet more records.
