24-time Grand Slam men's singles champion, Novak Djokovic, secured a record-extending, eighth ATP year-end World No. 1 ranking following a hard-fought three-sets, 7-6(4), 6(1)-7, 6-3 victory over Denmark's Holger Rune in his opening match of the ATP World Tour Finals in Turin.
Relieved to finish another year as the World No. 1, Djokovic said, "It took everything. I mean, I saw in the first game when he (Holger Rune) fired shots from the baseline in the first three or four points, I knew that it was going to be a tough night for me - if I want to want to win this match, I am going to have to work really, really hard. You could see already, as I said in the first couple of games of the match, he was feeling the ball well. He was sharp, very aggressive, every short ball he was coming in, he served terrific. I thought he played great. I played great in moments, and in some moments, I dropped the level. But, overall, a win is a win.
"It was a very emotional win and a tough win because of the significance of tonight's (Sunday's) match. Obviously, knowing that if I win, I am going to clinch the year-end (world) number one (ranking). So, that was added pressure and tension. But, after a really terrible second set tie-break, I think I played a really solid third set," he added.
He further said that he's achieved a big goal by ensuring he will end 2023 as the No. 1 player in men's tennis: "It means a lot, obviously. I mean, you could see there was a lot of emotions on the court. As I said in the previous answer, I could feel it. I was very eager to win tonight's (Sunday's) match (against Holger Rune) - get that, sort of, monkey off my back. And, I won Paris (the ATP Paris Masters title on 5th November), which put me in a much better position rankings-wise. And I knew that, coming into (the ATP World Tour Finals in) Torino, all I have to do is win one match. So, obviously, a big objective, a big goal is achieved. Everything else now is a bonus."