Novak Djokovic, playing a pure, pristine brand of tennis on Sunday, defeated Stefanos Tsitsipas 6-3, 6-4 to win the third edition of the Astana Open.
It was the ninth consecutive match victory for the fourth seed, who won the title a week ago in Tel Aviv. This was the 90th tour-level title for the 35-year-old and it required only 75 minutes.
For the third-seeded Greek Tsitsipas, it was the ninth time he played in an ATP 500 final – and the ninth time he came up empty. Djokovic now leads their ATP Head2Head series 8-2 and has won the past seven.
WINNING MACHINE!! 🏆
— ATP Tour (@atptour) October 9, 2022
🇷🇸 @DjokerNole storms to his 90th tour-level title, defeating Tsitsipas 6-3, 6-4 in Astana 💥@ktf_kz | #AstanaOpen pic.twitter.com/uchMzQEKnO
As a result of the win, the Serbian star secures himself a Top 20 spot in the Pepperstone ATP Live Race to Turin after the 2022 Rolex Paris Masters, meaning the reigning Wimbledon champion qualifies for the 2022 Nitto ATP Finals as a current-year Grand Slam winner. It was the 90th career tour-level title for Djokovic and the fourth of 2022.
When the on-court interviewer observed that Djokovic probably never dreamed of 90 ATP Tour titles, Djokovic shook his head.
“I dared to dream, actually,” he corrected. “I always hoped that I would be going to have a great career. Obviously, 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.”
Source: atptour.com