Djok & awe
Novak Djokovic felt “blessed” after he put Pete Sampras in the shade with his record-breaking world No.1 exploits.
The Serb beat Hubert Hurkacz in yesterday’s Rolex Paris Masters semis to guarantee he will finish a season ranked first on the planet for the seventh time.
The 20-time Grand Slam champion can’t be caught by US Open winner Daniil Medvedev and breaks the record he jointly held with American legend Sampras.
Djokovic has topped the standings in seven of the past 11 seasons and broke the mark for the most weeks at No.1 for any male player earlier this year.
He has now been top of the pile for 345 weeks and counting, with his most recent spell beginning in February last year.
The 34-year-old said: “I’m just proud and extremely happy. That was one of the biggest goals – and it’s always one of the biggest goals – to be No.1 and end the season there.
“To do it for the record seventh time and surpass my childhood idol and role model Pete is incredible. Very grateful, very blessed to be in this position.”
Djokovic returned to action this week for the first time since he fell one step short of a calendar Grand Slam by losing to Medvedev in the final in New York.
Whi le he has looked understandably a little rusty, he recovered from a set down to defeat Hurkacz 3- 6 6- 0 7- 6 (5). The Pole had al ready achieved his main goal of the week by clinching the eighth spot at the ATP Finals later this month, one which Cameron Norrie had been chasing.
Hurkacz hit back from 4-1 down in the deciding set to force a tie-break but fell just short.
Djokovic will again face Medvedev, the defending champion, who ended Ale x ander Zv e r e v ’ s eight- match winning streak 6-2 6-2 in Bercy.
Djokovic said: “Last time we played, he overplayed me. I overplayed him in the final of the Australian Open.
“They were quite straightforward matches, both of them.
“Hopefully I’ll be able to turn the tables around this time, learning from that experience in New York. He’s been playing fantastic tennis. He’s back at his best in the most important match, again, against Zverev in the semis.
“He’s not missing much and serving big. It seems like he’s finding the groove.
“We played a very close practice set about 10 days ago before coming here.
“Let’s hope for the sake of the fans and everyone involved we can have a thrilling match. I look forward to that challenge.”
Jamie Murray’s hopes of doubles success in Paris with Bruno Soares were scuppered with a 7- 5 6-3 semi-final defeat by Tim Puetz and Michael Venus.
It came as Great Britain were paired with the Czech Republ ic in February’s qualifiers for the Billie Jean King Cup. The Czechs have won the title six times in the last decade.