Novak Djokovic became just the third man in the Open era to win 100 ATP singles titles on Saturday, defeating Hubert Hurkacz 5-7, 7-6 (7-2), 7-6 (7-2) in the final of the Geneva Open.
The 24-time grand slam winner joins Jimmy Connors and Roger Federer as the only men to have achieved the feat.
“I want to thank my wife and my kids for coming for three days only on the school break, cutting the school for one day, just to be with me,” Djokovic said in his on court interview.
“My team, the only thing I can say is thank you for being with me in the good times but also in the bad times. Today was very challenging to stay with me on the court because I was going off at you quite a lot … so I want to thank you for staying here and earning with me this victory number 100.”
Since claiming his 99th title when he won the gold medal in the men’s singles at the 2024 Olympics in Paris eight months ago, Djokovic has endured a difficult run of form. He has particularly struggled on clay, recently exiting the Monte-Carlo Masters and Madrid Open in his first match of each tournament.
And for much of Saturday’s match, it seemed as if the milestone would elude the Serb once again.
At 2-2 in the first set, he was unable to capitalize on two break points and that came back to haunt him when Hurkacz took the set thanks to a double fault from Djokovic in the 12th game.
But as the match progressed, Djokovic – who turned 38 on Friday – showed the kind of resolute determination which appeared to have deserted him of late, breaking Hurkacz four times in a tiebreak after each player had held serve throughout the second set.
Having been broken by Hurkacz in the first game of the third set, it looked for a long time as though the win was slipping away from Djokovic again. But his quality came to the fore again, and he broke back to make it 4-4 before winning another tiebreak.
“I know it’s a bitter taste in the mouth to lose the match like this,” Djokovic told Hurkacz in his on-court interview afterward. “I think that you were definitely for most of the match, the better player.”
The victory means that, remarkably, the Serbian’s 100th title comes against a player coached by Nicolas Massú, the Chilean former world No. 9 whom Djokovic beat to win his very first ATP title in 2006.
Djokovic will now turn his attention to the French Open, where he will be aiming to win a record-breaking 25th Grand Slam. He faces American Mackenzie McDonald in the first round, which begins on Sunday.
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