KEY POINTS

  • Novak Djokovic recently won the Astana Open
  • He took his ATP titles tally to 90
  • Djokovic has also qualified for the Tour Finals 2022

Novak Djokovic says he is "motivated" to end the season on a high after he joined Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer in an elite ATP list.

By winning the ATP 500 Astana Open, Djokovic took his titles tally to 90, becoming only the fifth ATP star to win 90 or more titles, after Jimmy Connors (109), Federer (103), Ivan Lendl (94) and Nadal (92).

In an on-court interview, when Djokovic was asked if he expected to win as many as 90 titles in the ATP circuit, the former World No. 1 replied, "I dared to dream, actually. I always hoped that I would be going to have a great career. Obviously, didn't know the amount of finals I was going to play, the amount of tournaments I was going to win, but my intention was always to reach the highest heights in our sport."

Astana Open was Djokovic's fourth ATP title of the year, with the previous one coming in Tel Aviv a week ago. His four ATP titles also include Wimbledon.

In the Astana Open final, Djokovic defeated Stefanos Tsitsipas, who has lost all nine ATP 500 finals he ever played.

"I'm just very grateful and blessed to be able to play this well at this stage of my life. You know, 35 is not 25. But I think the experience, probably, in these kinds of matches and big occasions helps as well to approach mentally in the right way," the Serbian added.

'Super-pumped': Novak Djokovic returns the ball to Stefanos Tsitsipas during Sunday's final in Astana
AFP

Following his triumph at the All England Club in July, Djokovic was forced to be away from tennis for nearly three months due to the COVID-19 vaccine restrictions. The fourth-seeded player remains unvaccinated.

"I could not ask for a better restart of the season. Since Madrid, lost only to Rafa on the tour at Roland Garros, everything else was a win. I'm super-pumped and motivated to end the season as well as I have done these past couple of weeks," said Djokovic.

The 21-Grand Slam winner will now aim to end the year by triumphing at the ATP Finals. Djokovic is one of the five qualified players so far in the men's singles category; the other four are World No. 1 Carlos Alcaraz, Nadal, Casper Ruud and Tsitsipas.

While Nadal is yet to win the coveted trophy, Djokovic has won the year-end tournament five times, with his last title coming in 2015. ATP Finals 2022 is scheduled to begin on Nov. 13 and will be played in Turin, Italy.