Novak Djokovic targets Roger Federer's ATP Finals record in Turin
Novak Djokovic will enter the 2022 ATP Finals with the aim of equaling Roger Federer's record for the most number of titles won at the tournament.
The Swiss maestro won the year-end championships on six occasions (2003, 2004, 2006, 2007, 2010 and 2011) during his illustrious career.
Five-time champion Djokovic has an impeccable record at the ATP Finals, winning his first title in 2008 by beating Nikolay Davydenko 6-1, 7-5 in the title clash. The Serb then won the tournament four times in a row, from 2012 to 2015. However, he has failed to win another title at the championships since then. He reached the finals in 2016 and 2018 but lost to Andy Murray and Alexander Zverev respectively.
While the Serbian has suffered semifinal defeats in the last two years, he has a very strong chance of winning it in 2022. If he comes out on top in Turin this year, he will win his sixth title, thus equaling Federer's record for the most number of titles won.
Djokovic has previously prevented the retired Swiss star from winning more titles at the ATP Finals, beating him in title clashes of the competition in 2012 and 2015. Having previously broken Federer's record for the most number of weeks at the top of the ATP rankings, the 35-year-old now stands a chance of equaling his rival's record at the ATP Finals.
"Every match is like finals" - Novak Djokovic on ATP Finals
Asked about his ambitions at the ATP Finals in one of his post-match press conferences at the Paris Masters, Novak Djokovic stated that he aims to win wherever he competes and would carry that mentality into the year-end championships in Turin.
"Well, every tournament is important at this stage of my career. Anywhere I play, I try to win. That's not a secret. That's kind of my mentality and approach coming into Turin. I feel very good on the court. You know, I think I'm playing very, very good tennis," he said.
The Serb added that every match at the ATP Finals was like a final and that there were no easy matches in the tournament.
"You know, of course every match is like finals there. You know, there is no easy matches. You've got to be fit, fresh. Good thing is that you have a day between every match in the group stage, so you have time to recover between each match, which is good," he added.
While Djokovic has not played a lot of tennis this season, he has produced some impressive performances so far, winning 37 out of 44 matches with four titles to his name.
He won his 21st Grand Slam title at Wimbledon by beating Nick Kyrgios in the final in four sets. After missing the US Open and the Masters 1000 tournaments in Montreal and Cincinnati, he won back-to-back titles at the Tel Aviv Open and the Astana Open. He recently reached the Paris Masters final, where he lost to Holger Rune.