Novak Djokovic won the 90th tour-level title of his career with a comfortable victory over Stefanos Tsitsipas in the final of the Astana Open.
Djokovic, who also won in Tel Aviv last week, needed just 75 minutes to record a 6-3 6-4 victory, his seventh straight success against third seed Tsitsipas.
When the on-court interviewer observed that Djokovic probably never dreamed of 90 ATP Tour titles, the 21-time grand slam winner shook his head.
“I dared to dream, actually,” Djokovic said. “I always hoped that I would be going to have a great career.
“Obviously, I didn’t know the amount of finals I was going to play, the amount of tournaments I was going to win, but my intention was always to reach the highest heights in our sport.”
The 35-year-old added: “I’m just very grateful and blessed to be able to play this well at this stage of my life. You know, 35 is not 25.
“But I think the experience, probably, in these kinds of matches and big occasions helps as well to approach mentally in the right way.
“I could not ask for a better restart of the season. I’m super pumped and motivated to end the season as well as I have done these past couple of weeks.”
In Tokyo, Taylor Fritz won an all-American final at the Japan Open, edging compatriot Frances Tiafoe 7-6 (3) 7-6 (2).
Fritz only just made it to Japan in time for his first match after a week in Covid-19 quarantine in Korea, but will be ranked inside the world’s top 10 (eighth) for the first time on Monday and also moved up to seventh in the Race To Turin.
“It’s crazy, I don’t even think it’s set in just how fast the last four or five days have been,” Fritz said.
“It’s so crazy and I couldn’t have written it any better. It’s exactly what I needed for the Race, for my ranking, to kind of put me in a good position for the end of the year, so it’s amazing.”
