Novak Djokovic overcame an early onslaught by Lorenzo Musetti to win the Hellenic Championship in Greece and end his rivals’ hopes of securing an automatic qualifying spot for the ATP Finals.
The top seed battled his way to a 4-6, 6-3, 7-5 win over Musetti in a gut-busting match where the former world No.1 had to wait for more than 80 minutes to get his first break point opportunity. Djokovic faced numerous tests from his rival, who dropped just seven points behind his first serve in the opening set. Nevertheless, he managed to conjure up a way to fight back and frustrate Musetti, whom he broke once in the second set and then three times in a roller-coaster decider where he failed to serve the match out when leading 5-3 before winning three out of the next four games to clinch victory.
Djokovic’s marathon victory earns the Serbian his 71st ATP hardcourt trophy, which is a new record for the men’s Tour. He had previously been tied with Roger Federer on 70. Overall, he has 101 Tour titles to his name across all surfaces.
“Three hours of just a grueling match,” Djokovic said afterwards.
“Physically super demanding. Lorenzo played really well.
“It could have been anybody’s match. So congrats to him for an amazing performance.
“I’m just very proud of myself for getting through this one.
The win is a blow for 23-year-old Musetti, who came into the tournament knowing that he had to win the title in order to overtake Felix Auger-Aliassime in the race for Turin and qualify for the ATP Finals. The world No.9 has now lost six finals in a row and last won a title three years ago in Naples, Italy. Furthermore, he is now 5-25 against top-five players on the Tour, with his only victory of this season being against Alexander Zverev in Rome.
Meanwhile, Djokovic hasn’t confirmed if he will play in the ATP Finals, which begin tomorrow. He is the only player to have won the tournament seven times.
“I want to thank everybody for coming out today and all week and supporting me and all the players,” he said to the Athens crowd.
“It’s been an amazing tournament.”
Djokovic is the oldest man to win a Tour-level title since Ken Rosewall at the 1977 Hong Kong Open.
