Djokovic sends Nadal a controversial message about breaking tennis records
The Serb came back to action to play the last Masters 1000 of the calendar and managed to get to the final and defeat Grigor Dimitrov.
Novak Djokovic seems immune to aging. The world No. 1 recorded an impressive week in Paris, going all the way in the Rolex Paris Masters, the last big tennis tournament before the ATP Nitto Finals in the men’s category.
However, Nole had to dig deep in the French capital to lift the trophy. After surviving a tricky game against Tallon Griekspoor, the 24-time major winner also suffered to come out on top against Holger Rune, who beat him in last year’s final.
But the job was far from being done, as Andrey Rublev was the next in line to try to eliminate Djokovic from the event. He wasn’t that far from doing it, as the Russian player won the first set, but the current US champion proved once again his mentality is world-class and ended up coming back and winning the game.
Djokovic, 36, also managed to deal with Grigor Dimitrov’s talent in the final, ultimately winning the title in straight sets.
He broke another record in his career, as he became champion in Paris for a seventh time, something nobody had been able to accomplish so far.
Djokovic celebrates... and sends a message to Nadal
After the game, Djokovic celebrated his victory in Paris and also took a moment to cheer Dimitrov up, who was in tears after losing the final.
After that, the Serb maestro reiterated that his goal is to try to break all the records in tennis, or at least those that can be broken.
“I’m going for all possible records, all that I can break. I’ve never had a problem saying that. And that’s why people don’t like me”, he stated.
Nole then appeared to send a message to Rafa Nadal, who seemed to play down his own achievements last year during an interview when he said: “I don’t care much if I am the one or not the one, or the best in history, not the best in history.”
Djokovic, then, didn’t bite his tongue and shared his thoughts:
“I didn’t pretend like some people, to say that it’s not my goal, and then to behave differently after... I always tried to be in line with what I believe.”
One of the feats he wants to accomplish is to break Jimmy Connors’ record for the most ATP titles won in history. The American won a total of 109, while Djokovic has lifted 97.
“Why shouldn’t I try to break that record too? Now I have 12 less [than Connors] but I also have a few more years of successful tennis”, he concluded.
Djokovic will be looking to make more history in a few days, at the ATP Nitto Finals, where the best eight players of the year will battle it out to win the most prestigious trophy out of the four Grand Slam tournaments.