Serbian Novak Djokovic will complete a year at the top of the men’s tennis world rankings for the seventh time in his career, a record, following his victory in three sets of 3-6, 6-0, 7-6 (5 ) against the Polish Hubert Hurkacz in the semi-final of the Paris Masters on Saturday.
Djokovic, who will be chasing a sixth title at the tournament, passed American Pete Sampras, who was world number one every year between 1993 and 1998.
“That was my goal this week. I am very proud to end the season as number 1, ”said Djokovic.
“It’s a dream, in all fairness, because Sampras was such a great idol to me when I was young. It motivated me to take a racket and try this sport. “
On March 8, Djokovic erased the record of Swiss Roger Federer, who held the top of the world rankings for 310 weeks. The Serb will end 2021 with a total of 348 weeks as number one.
Also, if he wins the final on Sunday, Djokovic will earn a 37th title at a Masters 1000 tournament, which will allow him to set another record in men’s tennis. For the moment, he shares the first place with the Spaniard Rafael Nadal.
In the final, Djokovic will face the winner of the match between Russian Daniil Medvedev and German Alexander Zverev.
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