Novak Djokovic gained his one centesimal ATP title in his storied profession on Saturday on the Geneva Open, transferring alongside two of the all-time legends of the game within the course of.
Djokovic defeated Hubert Hurkacz, who hadn’t dropped a set in Geneva previous to the ultimate, and wanted to come back again from a set down to take action. Djokovic required tiebreakers in each of the ultimate two units to tug off the upset. Whereas he solely managed to interrupt one serve from Hurkacz, he made it rely within the last set to push it to a tiebreak, which he gained 7-2 to say his one centesimal profession title.
In doing so, Djokovic turned simply the third man to win 100 titles, becoming a member of Jimmy Connors (109) and Roger Federer (103), additional cementing his legacy as one of many recreation’s all-time greats.
Even previous to an exhilarating three-set battle within the match last, Djokovic needed to combat by a little bit of a scare to beat Cameron Norrie on Friday within the semifinals. Djokovic gained a tightly contested first set 6-4 earlier than Norrie got here roaring again within the second to take the set 7-6 (8-6), surviving a Djokovic match level to power a 3rd. Whereas it appeared as if Norrie had the momentum, Djokovic confirmed flashes of his previously dominant self, working Norrie everywhere in the court docket earlier than taking the win with a dominant 6-1 last set.
Thursday noticed Djokovic rejoice his thirty eighth birthday by defeating Matteo Arnaldi within the match quarterfinals. The win over Arnaldi helped exorcise the ghost of a loss in the identical matchup in Djokovic’s first match at April’s ATP Masters 1000 Madrid. The Madrid loss was the second consecutive match by which Djokovic went out in his first match.
The hunt for his one centesimal title was a rocky one for Djokovic. He captured title 99 by successful gold within the 2024 Olympics, however the momentum didn’t carry ahead. Because the Olympics, Djokovic had reached simply two finals previous to the Geneva Open whereas exiting in his first match of 4 tournaments.
Now he enters the French Open now not burdened by the pursuit of title No. 100 and can be trying to show himself as nonetheless being a risk in grand slam competitors as the No. 6 seed at Roland Garros.
