Remember the days when a peaking Novak Djokovic would rip of his shirt after insane battles, a sign of his invincibility and insatiable desire to create history in our sport?
The years have ticked on, but that fire remains.
Djokovic took out Lorenzo Musetti in a fiery two hour and 59-minute battle on Saturday in Athens, 4-6, 6-3, 7-5, for his 101st career title. When the battle was over, he tore the shirt off his back as the crowd went wild in Athens.
What a moment for Djokovic, who becomes the oldest title winner in ATP history, at 38 years and five months.
The 24-time major champion is two titles shy of matching Roger Federer’s 103, and eight behind Jimmy Connors’ all-time record of 109 ATP titles. He improved to 1163-233 lifetime with his win.
“Still at your age, you are kicking ass, like mine today, but every time I step on court against you and I share the court with you, I take it as a lesson, so thanks for that,” Musetti told the 38-year-old during the trophy presentation.
Musetti could have vaulted past Felix Auger-Aliassime as the last qualifier for next week’s Nitto ATP Finals with a win. Instead he’ll go to Turin as one of the two alternates, if Djokovic, decides to play.
Sky Sports has already posted that Djokovic is electing to pull out of the ATP Finals, and if that is indeed the case, both Musetti and Auger-Aliassime will qualify.
“I know it’s a tough feeling to accept right now,” Djokovic told Musetti. “If there is anything positive to take away it’s that your level of tennis has been incredible all week. Especially today, honestly I played you many times on different surfaces, honestly your improvement on hard court is amazing. Keep it going, you are on the right path and I’m sure your future is bright.”
It was a back-and-forth tussle that featured high quality tennis from both players. Musetti, bidding to qualify for the ATP Finals and hoping to snap a five-match losing streak in ATP finals, started stronger, executing a break for 2-1 and making it stand up in a crisp opening set.
But Djokovic turned up the heat in the middle set, and eventually his efforts were rewarded with a break for 5-3. He then saved a break point while serving for the set and closed it out to force a decider two points later.
There were two trades of breaks in a topsy turvy final set, with Djokovic leading by a break twice before being reeled back in by the 23-year-old Italian. Finally Djokovic converted his fourth break point of the 11th game to take a 6-5 lead.
He held at love to close out the title.
Oldest ATP Tour Champions (since the ATP Tour was established in 1990):
Novak Djokovic 38Y 5M 2025 Athens (d. Musetti)
Gael Monfils 38Y 4M 2025 Auckland (d. Bergs)
Roger Federer 38Y 2M 2019 Basel (d. de Minaur)
Novak Djokovic 38Y 2D 2025 Geneva (d. Hurkacz)
Roger Federer 37Y 10M 2019 Halle (d. Goffin)
Feliciano Lopez 37Y 9M 2019 London/Queen’s Club (d. Simon)
