Novak Djokovic spoke about his love for tennis as well as his ambition of being the year-end world number one ahead of the ATP Finals.
The Serb is in fine form heading into the season finale in Turin having won the last two tournaments he has competed in, the US Open and the Rolex Paris Masters.
Now Djokovic is aiming for a record-breaking seventh title at the ATP Finals as well as being the year-end world number one for the eighth time in his career.
Speaking ahead of the ATP Finals, Djokovic spoke about his goal of being world number one to end the year and also described his love for tennis as well as what still motivates him, “For me, the biggest goal right now is to end the season as the No. 1 player in the world, so hopefully I can clinch it. I need one win, so hopefully that happens,” Djokovic told the ATP website.
“And then of course, I would love to win the tournament as well. But that’s the goal and then let’s see what happens afterwards. I also love competing, I love the sport. That’s my greatest motivation really, because I’ve made a lot of records, I’ve broken a lot of records and it’s great.
“But even if I leave professional tennis now and reflect on everything I’ve done, I can be extremely, extremely satisfied. So I don’t have a pressure to keep on competing, but I still have desire and still have the level.
“I’m playing at a very high level, so records are there obviously as a huge inspiration as well, no doubt, and history of the sport. I still want to create my own history and history of tennis and see how far I can go.”
For Djokovic to end the season as world number one, all he needs to do is beat Holger Rune on Sunday or for Carlos Alcaraz to lose one match in Turin.
However as Djokovic described that will be easier said than done as he complimented his opening opponent of the week, “Holger has his debut in the [Nitto ATP] Finals. Obviously, along with [Carlos] Alcaraz, they are the same generation, one of the leaders of the Next Gen and probably one of the players that will carry the tennis in the decade to come,” Djokovic explained to the ATP website.
“We’re going to see a lot of him I’m sure in the future. He’s got Boris Becker, the legend of the game in his corner now and he’s been improving himself as well. Every time we face each other, it’s a close match, so I’ll probably have to expect that one again.”
Djokovic has won the tournament on six previous occasions and another title a week on Sunday would see him overtake Roger Federer’s record.
That would be another record for Djokovic to hold in a long list of historic achievements that he has already achieved.
Speaking ahead of his quest for a seventh title Djokovic spoke about qualifying for the ATP Finals again and the unique format that the tournament brings, “It’s great. I’m again, honoured to be part of this event,” Djokovic proudly said.
“It’s the pinnacle of ATP Tour. Other than Slams, this is the biggest tournament we have in the sport. And the best eight players in the world worked very hard the entire year. All the players who qualify for this event, it’s a great privilege.
“It’s the only tournament that really has the group format. So even if you lose a match or two, you can still qualify for the semis. So I think that removes a little bit of pressure of losing a match. But still, you need to be at your best every single match because every single match is played at the quality of probably finals of the Masters 1000 events.”
Djokovic’s opening match of the ATP Finals will take place at 9pm local time against Holger Rune on Sunday.
