Djokovic makes more history with 100th singles title

Novak Djokovic, who defeated Hubert Hurkacz to claim his 100th ATP singles title, added another piece of tennis history to his already impressive Geneva victory.

Djokovic, who almost has won everything in tennis, is only the third player to do so in the Open era after Jimmy Connors and Roger Federer.

The 38-year-old had won all seven of his previous matches against Polish team Hurkacz, but this time he came out on top by beating them 7-5 7-6 (7-2) 7-6 (7-2).

After their father’s passing, Djokovic’s children congratulated him on the court, with their wife Jelena keeping watch.

He acknowledged that “I had to work for it,” foregoing all else. The match was “probably closer to victory” than I was.

With the French Open starting on Sunday, Djokovic had some welcome time on the clay.

He didn’t start his tournament in Geneva without winning, having lost his first match in four of his previous five.

With his goal of winning a stand-alone record 25th Grand Slam title on track, Djokovic is relieved to travel to Paris where he will face American Mackenzie McDonald in the opening round.

This is Djokovic’s first title since taking home the gold at the Olympics last year, and it represents a turning point for the tennis legend.

Before Czech teenager Jakub Mensik’s first attempt to win his 100th title in the Miami Open showpiece, his injury-affected run to the semi-finals of the Australian Open was ended.

Djokovic lost his opening matches in Monte Carlo and Madrid in straight sets before deciding against competing in the Italian Open, which has been a particularly challenging situation for the clay.

Following a split with Andy Murray, Djokovic decided to take a wildcard to Geneva, where he has improved throughout the series, with the most notable improvement being in particular in terms of his serving and returning performance.

At 2-2, the Serb had the first break opportunities, and the majority of the packed crowd in Geneva was on his side.

Hurkacz, a big server returning from a serious knee injury at Wimbledon last year, produced aces and service winners in the key moments to keep him at bay.

The first set was ultimately decided by Djokovic’s errors rather than his opponent’s outstanding play. Hurkacz received his first break point of the set thanks to an unfortunate net cord that forced a tie-break, and Djokovic’s terrible double fault gave it to him.

Every second set of Hurkacz service matches appeared to be going deuce, with Djokovic pressed for an opening every time, but his uncharacteristic errors made it possible for his 28-year-old opponent to wiggle free, much to Djokovic’s wry amusement.

Hurkacz broke at the start of the third set after smashing a winner to make it a tie-break.

Before the Pole played a terrible game at 4-3, both players shook off the service games. An error caused Djokovic to get the break when Hurkacz was tight in his body and in full tension, and the six-time world champion celebrated by shaking his racquet.

Djokovic ran away with a tie-break before scoring an ace to make it happen once more when it seemed almost inevitable.