Novak Djokovic at the 2023 ATP Finals. Photo: PHOTOSPORT
A ruthless Novak Djokovic destroyed home favourite Jannik Sinner to win the ATP Finals title for a record seventh time -- adding yet another milestone to his incredible career.
The 36-year-old Serb lost to home favourite Sinner earlier in the week in the group stage, but exacted revenge with a sublime display to claim a 6-3 6-3 victory.
A sell-out crowd in Turin's Pala Alpitour had hoped to cheer the 22-year-old Sinner to the biggest title of his career but Djokovic was simply in a different league.
The world number one dropped only two points on serve in the opening set and once he had broken Sinner's serve in the fourth game it was largely one-way traffic.
At one point Djokovic won 14 points in a row against a player ranked fourth in the world before Sinner briefly slowed the march of the 24-time Grand Slam champion.
Sinner avoided going a double break of serve down as Djokovic surprisingly failed to make a passing shot and Sinner then had points to break back in the sixth game but could not convert either of them.
Djokovic also failed to convert break points that would have given him a 5-2 lead as a few errors crept into his game.
The crowd tried their best to energise their man but Djokovic moved on towards victory and a Sinner double fault ended the contest. Djokovic moves past Roger Federer to stand alone as the most successful player in the tournament's history.
His win concludes a year in which he won three of the four Grand Slam titles and seized back the world number one spot from Carlos Alcaraz and worryingly for the chasing pack he will head into 2024 looking as dominant as ever.
-Reuters
