Where does Novak Djokovic's 2023 season rank in his career?
Novak Djokovic finished his 2023 season on a high with a triumph at the ATP Finals in Turin, Italy, on Sunday, November 19. This year, he has won a total of seven titles. Notably, the Serb has won three Grand Slam trophies and the Year-end championships in the same year for the second time in his career, which makes it his second-best performance after 2015.
Djokovic won the Adelaide International 1 tournament, Australian Open (10), French Open (3), Cincinnati Masters, US Open (4), Paris Masters, and the Year-end championships (7) in 2023. He will also finish the year as the World No. 1 for a record eighth time.
In 2015, the Serb collected a staggering 11 titles for his trophy cabinet. He started the year by winning the Australian Open and later dominated the hardcourt American swing with glory at the Indian Wells Open, Miami Open, and Monte Carlo Masters. During the clay season, he won the Italian Open.
Djokovic secured two more Major titles in 2015 with success at Wimbledon and the US Open. He improved his season's tally with triumphs at the China Open and Shanghai Masters. He concluded the season with a Paris Masters title, fifth ATP Finals glory, and fourth World No. 1 finish.
The 36-year-old has participated in 12 tournaments on tour in 2023. Apart from the seven title-winning runs, he was the runner-up at the Wimbledon Championships. He finished as a semifinalist at the Dubai Tennis Championships and as a quarterfinalist at the Srpska Open and Italian Open. His run at the Monte Carlo Masters remains his sole finish outside of the last-eight stage this year.
Djokovic also made it to the top of two coveted tallies this year. In February, he surpassed Steffi Graf's record of most weeks (377) as the World No. 1 ranked player overall. He is currently in his 400th week as the top-ranked tennis athlete.
The second list that the Serb topped is that of the all-time Grand Slam winners. He overtook Australia's Margaret Court with his 24th Major title in the form of the US Open in September.
Notably, the 24-time Grand Slam champion has won seven titles during three more seasons in his career thus far. In 2013, he secured a fourth Australian Open triumph and won the other six cups in Dubai, Monte Carlo, Bejing, Shanghai, Paris, and London (ATP Finals).
The World No. 1 won 2014's Wimbledon, Indian Wells Open, Miami Open, Italian Open, China Open, Paris Masters, and the year-end championships. Two years later, he took his titles tally to seven for the third time with triumphs at the Australian Open, French Open, Qatar Open, Indian Wells Open, Miami Open, Madrid Open, and Canadian Open.
Revisiting Novak Djokovic's 2011 where he won 10 titles
One could argue that the 2011 season ranks as Novak Djokovic's second-best performance to date with 10 title-winning runs.
Djokovic, unarguably, announced his arrival as the third big thing in tennis in the year 2011, after Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer made their mark in the decade before.
The Serb won as many Grand Slam titles that year as he won in 2023 as a 36-year-old. He lifted the trophies at the Melbourne Park, SW19 and Flushing Meadows.
A 24-year-old Djokovic was unable to win the 2011 ATP Finals on the back of a poor show during the round-robin stage. He lost his ties against Janko Tisparevic and David Ferrer. His solitary win at the tournament came against Tomas Berdych, which wasn't enough to take him to the knockout stage.