For Novak Djokovic, the 2008 season, just a few years after turning professional, was a great season by any measure. It was his breakthrough year.
Not only did he win the first of his six ATP Finals, but he also went on to win the 2008 Australian Open, which would be the first of his 10 titles and his 24th major championship overall.
He toppled top seed Roger Federer in the semifinals and beat Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in the final. Djokovic also advanced to the semifinals of the French Open, losing to Rafael Nadal, and also advanced to the semifinals of the US Open, losing to Federer. At the time, Djokovic was only 21 years old.
At the end of the season, Djokovic won two other tournaments, including the Masters 1000s in Indian Wells and Rome. That year, Djokovic firmly established himself as a true member of what is known as the Big Three, along with Federer and Nadal.
“He played like an animal,” Nikolay Davydenko, who lost 6-1, 7-5 to Djokovic in the 2008 Shanghai final, said in an email last month. “He is a good runner and has good control and the best concentration on the Tour. “I didn’t have a chance.”
Now, 15 years later, the 36-year-old Djokovic is still leading the sport and enters the final as the top seed. This year was once again one of his best. For the fourth time in his career, he won three of the four majors and reached the ATP Finals with a record of 51 wins and 5 losses. Last Sunday, he earned his seventh Paris Masters championship and 40th Masters 1000 title with back-to-back wins over Grigor Dimitrov.
The ATP Finals begin Sunday at the Pala Alpitour in Turin, Italy. Here, Djokovic will attempt to win his record seventh title. His main rival is second seed Carlos Alcaraz, who ruined Djokovic’s chances of becoming the third man to win a Grand Slam when Alcaraz beat him in the Wimbledon final in July.
But Alcaraz has not won a tournament since the summer and was forced to withdraw from an ATP event in Basel, Switzerland last month due to foot and back problems. He was then upset by qualifier Roman Safiullin in the opening round of the Paris Masters.
The other six singles players taking part in the round robin competition are Daniil Medvedev, Jannik Sinner, Andrey Rublev, Stefanos Tsitsipas, Alexander Zverev and Holger Rune. Djokovic is the defending champion, having defeated Casper Ruud in the 2022 final.
“I’ve had a really fantastic year so far,” Djokovic said shortly before the start of the Paris Masters last month. “I couldn’t have asked for a better season. “If I was just one game away from winning all four slams, and someone told me it was going to happen, I would immediately sign at the beginning of the season.”
Djokovic advanced to the ATP Finals as the No. 1 player for the first time in 398 weeks. He may reach the milestone in 400 weeks, the day after the event ends. He ended the year with seven No. 1 rankings, one more than Pete Sampras, who topped the list from 1993-98. All he has to do is win one round-robin match in the finals to overtake Alcaraz and become number one this year.
In three of the six years that Djokovic has won the ATP Finals, he has finished the year in first place. The only time his year-end No. 1 ranking was lowered in an ATP Finals Championship match was when he lost to year-end No. 1 Andy Murray in 2016.
These days, Djokovic is motivated by maintaining his position in the major leagues. Stan Wawrinka, who has faced Djokovic nearly 30 times, knows how fickle it can be to compete with Djokovic in a year-end championship.
“Playing with Novak in a World Tour final was special for me,” said Wawrinka, who plays at the Paris Masters. “It was always a huge challenge to play him indoors when he was focused and motivated. “His play is amazing on all surfaces, but I would say he is at his best indoors.”
