Novak Djokovic: A look at Serbian's record-breaking 2023 season

Novak Djokovic demonstrated to the world that he is not just one of the great four in tennis but also the best in terms of pure statistics and being the ultimate beast on the courtDjokovic playing some of his best tennis at 36 can officially declare 2023 as his year as he ended on the top of the ATP YearEnd World No 1 ranking for a recordextending eighth time and officially became the first man to win 24 Grand Slam titlesHe has tied Margaret Court for the most ever of any player in any era The record 24time Grand Slam champion has scripted many historic records to his nameIt was a recordbreaking year from the Brisbane International in January to representing Serbia in the Davis Cup in November with a calendar grand slam apparently within grasp While he failed to replicate Rod Laver and Don Budges record he did claim many other records as his ownIn 2023 Djokovic surpassed Rafael Nadal by winning three Grand Slams giving him a total of 24 Major trophies The Serbian came near to winning a calendar slam but was stopped by Spaniard Carlos Alcaraz at Wimbledon Only two men have ever won a calendar slam Don Budge in 1938 and Rod Laver in 1962 and 1969Djokovic won his 40th ATP Masters title as he bagged the Paris Masters crown Nadal holds the second position in the list with 36 victories while Roger Federer has 28 The Serbian also won the ATP Masters 1000 tournament in Cincinnati defeating Carlos Alcaraz after coming back from a set down Djokovic is also the only player to have won all nine masters titles since the tournaments start in 1990With six ATP Finals championships he was tied with Roger Federer for the most In 2023 he surpassed the Swiss legend by winning his seventh title in Turin defeating local star Jannik Sinner His 71st Big Title a combination of Grand Slams ATP Masters 1000 tournaments ATP Finals and Olympic singles gold was also wonOnly an Olympic gold medal remains elusive for the world number one Serbias finest Olympic achievement was a bronze medal in Beijing in 2008Also ReadSlam pride Number 23 imprinted on Novak Djokovicrsquos shoesThe 36yearold Serbian was involved in a backandforth battle for the title of world number one at the end of the year Despite Alcarazs challenge Djokovic prevailed In the first round of the ATP Finals he defeated Holger Rune to claim his eighth ATP yearend no 1Djokovic has the most yearend finishes at the top of the ATP rankings with six followed by Pete Sampras With five Roger Federer Rafael Nadal and Jimmy Connors are tied for third placeAfter winning the ATP Finals in November the 24time Grand Slam champion began his 400th week as world no 1 in the ATP Rankings adding another feather to his crown Earlier this year he broke Steffi Grafs record of 377 weeks at world number one being the only player in either gender to do it Federer holds the record for the most consecutive weeks as world number one with 237 weeksDjokovic is on his way to winning his 100th title he now has 98 Only Roger Federer 103 points and Jimmy Connors 109 points are ahead of himMeanwhile Indias star player Rohan Bopanna went about his job quietly throughout 2023 becoming a sports icon and achieving World No 3 in the doubles rankings Bopanna together with Australian Matthew Edben reached heights that few Indians have attained and this at the age of 43 when most players retireBopanna was rated 19th in the world at the start of the year but has already risen 16 places They reached the ATP Finals and advanced to the tournaments semifinals thanks to their higher rankingNotably after not competing in international tennis since the Australian Open the 22time major champion Rafael Nadal has confirmed that he will be returning to the tennis court at Brisbane International which begins in the first week of January 2024With agency inputs