{"id":346151,"date":"2023-11-13T02:37:48","date_gmt":"2023-11-13T03:37:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/?p=346151"},"modified":"2023-11-13T06:01:43","modified_gmt":"2023-11-13T06:01:43","slug":"djokovic-obliterates-two-racquets-on-way-to-huge-goal","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/?p=346151","title":{"rendered":"Djokovic obliterates two racquets on way to 'huge goal'"},"content":{"rendered":"

Novak Djokovic<\/a> patted his chest, crouched down, placed his right hand on the court and looked inward.<\/p>\n

It was clearly a moment to cherish for the 24-time grand slam champion after securing the year-end No.1 ranking for a record-extending eighth time.<\/p>\n

Djokovic needed only one match win at the ATP<\/a> Finals to be sure of keeping the top spot and he did it in his opener, beating Holger Rune<\/a> 7-6 (4) 6-7 (1) 6-3 in a match spanning more than three hours.<\/p>\n

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Djokovic ended a close first set with a blazing forehand return winner \u2014 then flexed his right biceps and held the pose for a few moments before unleashing an authoritative fist pump.<\/p>\n

\"Novak<\/p>\n

The 20-year-old Rune was making his debut at the season-ending tournament for the year's top eight players, and he took a set off Djokovic for the fourth time in five career meetings.<\/p>\n

The \ufeffSerb's frustration hit fever pitch early in the deciding set after giving up an early break when leading 2-0<\/p>\n

Losing his temper, Djokovic subsequently smashed two racquets with his foot at the change of ends.<\/p>\n

After regaining his composure, \ufeffhe was able to close out the match.<\/p>\n

\"Novak<\/p>\n

"It was a very emotional and tough win because of the significance of the match," Djokovic said. "That was added pressure and attention."<\/p>\n

"It means a lot. You could see there were a lot of emotions on the court. I could feel it. I was very eager to win the match and get that monkey off my back."<\/p>\n

Carlos Alcaraz took the honours in 2022 but the 36-year-old Djokovic bounced back this year by winning three of the four major titles and finishing runner-up to Alcaraz at Wimbledon.<\/p>\n

"It always has been a huge objective and huge goal of mine to be No.1 in the world, Djokovic said.<\/p>\n

"Other than grand slams, that's what counts the most.<\/p>\n

https:\/\/twitter.com\/atptour\/status\/1723842416459817015?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw<\/a><\/p>\n

"To finish off the year as No.1 at this stage of my life and career is something really amazing."<\/p>\n

After this tournament, Djokovic will become the first player to hold the No.1 ranking for 400 weeks, with Roger Federer at 310 the only other man to eclipse the 300-week mark.<\/p>\n

If Djokovic raises the trophy next week, he'll break a tie with Federer and capture a record seventh title at the tour finals.<\/p>\n

"A big goal is achieved. Everything else now is a bonus," Djokovic said.<\/p>\n

Djokovic has won 19 straight matches since his five-set loss to Alcaraz in the Wimbledon final in July.<\/p>\n

Earlier in the green group, Jannik Sinner beat Stefanos Tsitsipas<\/a>, 6-4 6-4.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Novak Djokovic patted his chest, crouched down, placed his right hand on the court and looked inward. It was clearly a moment to cherish for […]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":346153,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/346151"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=346151"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/346151\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":346156,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/346151\/revisions\/346156"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/346153"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=346151"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=346151"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=346151"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}