"Don't think any man could have done anything about Novak Djokovic"- Serb's ATP Finals win over Sinner picked as best performance of 2023 by analyst

Tennis analyst Gill Gross has picked Novak Djokovic's year-end championship final win over Jannik Sinner as the best singles performance of 2023.

At the ATP Finals in Turin, top-seeded Djokovic cleared the group stage with wins over eighth seed Holger Rune and World No. 9 Hubert Hurkacz. In the semifinals, the Serb defeated reigning Wimbledon champion Carlos Alcaraz 6-3, 6-2. He went on to clinch his record seventh year-end championship title with an impressive 6-3, 6-3 victory over home favorite Jannik Sinner.

In the latest episode of the Monday Match Analysis, tennis analyst Gill Gross named the World No. 1's impressive display in the ATP Finals against Sinner as the best performance of the year. He said Djokovic was "unplayable" with an ace rate of 28%, winning 29 of his 32 first-serve points.

"And the Monday Match Analysis award goes to Novak Djokovic, his win at the year-end championship in the final over Jannik Sinner," Gross said. "For most of this match Djokovic was just about as unplayable as I have ever seen him.

"Djokovic with an ace rate of 28%, fourth highest ever in his career, against one of the hardest players in the world to ace in Jannik Sinner," he added. "He won 29 of 32 first serve points, he was hitting great unattackable second serves, sliced low into Sinner's forehand. From the baseline, he was going nuclear off of his forehand."

The analyst further drew focus to the lack of mistakes made by the 24-time Slam champion; Djokovic committed just four unforced errors against Jannik Sinner. According to Gross, given the Serb's level of performance, no player could have beaten him.

"Djokovic averaging 79 miles per hour on his forehand, it was even higher in the first set. But for the match, he only made four unforced errors on his forehand, Sinner made 18. And on the backhand, Novak was redirecting down the line at every single opportunity he could. It ended up being scoreline 6-3, 6-3, and Novak, for the first time in the match, maybe at the very end, just let off a hair," Gross said.

"But for 75% of this match, I don't think any man could have done anything about Novak Djokovic. They would have had no answer for his level, that's why to me it's the performance of the year," he added.

Gross further pointed out that the reigning US Open champion was able to take revenge for his loss against Sinner in the group stage of the year-end championships.

"Sinner's form also adds to it," he said. "In his last 14 matches of the year, this was his only loss. He was on a six-match win streak against Top 5 players, and one of them was against Novak Djokovic in the round-robin stage. So Novak was able to deliver not only a reversal but an emphatic reversal."

Novak Djokovic: "I have always had the highest ambitions and goals"

Novak Djokovic pictured after winning the 2023 ATP Finals in Turin

Novak Djokovic ended the year at World No. 1 for a record eighth time, with a 56-7 win-loss ratio. He clinched seven titles including the Australian Open, French Open and US Open.

During his post-match press conference after winning the 2023 ATP Finals, the World No. 1 said he is aiming for the calendar Grand Slam and Olympic gold in 2024.

"Well, you can win four slams and Olympic gold (smiling). Let's see. I mean, I have always the highest ambitions and goals. That's not going to be different for the next year, that's for sure. The drive that I have is still there. My body has been serving me well, listening to me well. I have a great team of people around me," he said.

The 36-year-old added that he still has a positive mindset and that he will try to keep himself motivated to achieve more.

"The mindset is the same. I'll keep going. I don't know whether I'm going to have as good of a year next year, but I'm going to keep this kind of, yeah, freshness of mind and in a way motivation to do that," he added.