Novak Djokovic: Seven stunning stats following ATP Finals success
The ‘GOAT’ debate in tennis will never be resolved, mainly due to there being no strict criteria for what ‘greatness’ actually is. However, there surely can’t be a single tennis enthusiast left who doesn’t accept that Novak Djokovic is statistically the best player to ever touch a racket.
His win over Jannik Sinner to claim another ATP Finals title was far from a watershed moment there, of course. Historic, yes, but it merely served as yet more confirmation of facts well known for some time now.
However, it was also deeply impressive for many reasons – and these statistics really underlined it.
Novak Djokovic on verge of hardcourt record
Djokovic’s prowess on hardcourts is well-known of course, but what may surprise you is that he doesn’t actually have the record for most hardcourt titles.
Before Turin, that record belonged to Roger Federer. Now, though, it’s shared, with Djokovic joining Federer with 71 career hardcourt titles.
It’s only a matter of time before Djokovic takes that record outright as well now.
Career hardcourt ATP titles
| =1 | Novak Djokovic | 71 |
| =1 | Roger Federer | 71 |
| 3 | Andre Agassi | 46 |
| 4 | Jimmy Connors | 43 |
| 5 | Pete Sampras | 35 |
What is quite interesting is Rafael Nadal’s name not being on that list, and it really serves to highlight how dependant upon the clay season he has been in his career – and how devastatingly brilliant he is on the surface.
Winning machine
If you were to look at the number of matches won in 2023 in isolation and without context, you might not be all that impressed with Djokovic’s position on the list.
He won 55 matches in the year, which puts him in fifth place behind Daniil Medvedev (66), Carlos Alcaraz (65), Jannik Sinner (61) and even Andrey Rublev (56).
READ NEXT: Novak Djokovic reflects on ‘one of the best seasons’ he’s ever had
However, Djokovic played far fewer tournaments than those players. He played just 12 in the whole year compared tom for example, Medvedev’s 22 and Alcaraz’s 17.
There is also Djokovic’s age to consider. He is actually only the second man in Open era history to win 55 or more matches in a single season after turning 35 years old. Ken Rosewall, who did it twice, is the other.
Not as easy as you’d think…
You might think that the world number one winning the ATP Finals happens all the time, but that is far from the case.
In fact, Djokovic is the first player to achieve it in seven years since Andy Murray in 2016.
1 – For the first time since 2016 when Andy Murray won the ATP Finals title, the World No.1 (Novak Djokovic) has won this event. Sublime. #NittoATPFinals | @atptour @ATPMediaInfo pic.twitter.com/77T4r6KjQB
— OptaAce (@OptaAce) November 19, 2023
Novak Djokovic takes ATP Finals record outright
Even going into the 2023 ATP Finals, no player had won more titles at the event than Djokovic.
He didn’t have the record outright, though. It was one that he shared with Roger Federer, both of whom had won it on sic occasions.
However, he has rewritten the record books again by winning a seventh, and ensured yet another of tennis’ top records is now solely in his possession.
Completed the set
In fact, Djokovic has now erased the names of both Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal from just every record in the three most prestigious levels of ATP Tournaments.
He went into this year trailing Nadal for Slams and sharing the ATP Finals record with Federer. He has swept them off the board now though.
Most titles in the Open Era
| Grand Slams | Novak Djokovic (24) |
| ATP Finals | Novak Djokovic (7) |
| Masters 1000 | Novak Djokovic (40) |
Novak Djokovic the best ever against the best
One of the little talked-about records but most impressive is how a player has performed against the best players in the world.
As we all know, you can get a favourable draw and win a slam – or indeed be beaten by anyone on the ATP Tour on any given day.
However, how you perform against the very best players in the world is always going to be a metric for quality, and Djokovic has consistently done it. In fact, he now has 257 wins against top-ten opponents – more than anyone else in history.
The records Novak Djokovic has extended
Year-end world number one and total weeks at world number one are two records that Djokovic has long since taken possession of. Even that, though, is not seemingly not enough for him.
He has extended both as a result of winning in Turin. He now has eight year-end world number ones – two more than nearest rival Pete Sampras.
Even more impressively, he is now starting his 400th week as world number one, which is 90 ahead of Federer. He will keep on extending that for a while now too. In fact he can’t mathematically lose it until after the Australian Open at the earliest.
READ NEXT: Novak Djokovic hoping for one more match against ‘warrior’ Rafael Nadal
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