Novak Djokovic lifted the Astana Open trophy in Kazakhstan after sealing a comfortable 6-3 6-4 victory over third seed Stefanos Tsitsipas on Sunday.
The Wimbledon champion took his win streak to nine after wrapping up the final in 75 minutes without facing a break point as he booked his place at next month’s ATP Finals.
“I’m just very grateful and blessed to be able to play this well at this stage of my life,” said Djokovic.
It was the fourth title of the year for 35-year-old Djokovic and the 90th tour-level trophy of his career.
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.
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“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.”
He 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.”
Greek Tsitsipas has now lost all nine ATP 500 finals he has reached.
Fritz edges out Tiafoe to win Japan Open final
Taylor Fritz sealed a 7-6 (7-3) 7-6 (7-2) win over fellow American Frances Tiafoe in a tense Japan Open final to secure his third title of the year.
The two 24-year-olds traded breaks in the opening set before the greater consistency of Fritz took him ahead in the tiebreak and he secured it with a cracking forehand, breaking his opponent’s streak of 13 tie-break wins.
The second set was equally intense as Fritz’s serve proved impenetrable and Tiafoe bravely defended several break-point chances inside Tokyo’s Ariake Coliseum.
In the tie-break, Fritz raced into a 6-2 lead with relentless power and accuracy before sealing victory when Tiafoe’s forehand went out.
Fritz, who will enter the top 10 in the world rankings on Monday for the first time, dropped his racket and let out a roar after boosting his chances to qualify for November’s ATP Finals in Turin, Italy.
“It’s so crazy, and I couldn’t have written it any better,” he said after wrapping up victory in just under two hours.
“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.”
Fritz, the 10th American to win the Japan Open title and the first since Pete Sampras in 1996, also won titles in Eastbourne and Indian Wells this year.