Djokovic was asked if he is the best: "I'm not, I'm fifth"

Djokovic was asked if he is the best: "I'm not, I'm fifth"

Serbian tennis player defeated Casper Ruud in the final in straight-sets victory, thus reaching the sixth trophy in this competition without defeat. It will also bring him fifth place at the end of the year, which Carlos Alcaraz finished as World No. 1.

Journalists were interested in whether Djokovic considers himself the best in the world.

"I'm not. I'm fifth (laughs)," said Djokovic and added:

“I always see myself as the best player in the world," Djokovic said. "I have that kind of mentality and that kind of approach. Regardless of who is across the net, regardless of what the surface is, regardless of what season it is, what number of the professional season in my career we're facing. It's always the same. The ambitions are as high as possible".

“I had an amazing finish to the season with most of the tournaments that I played indoors I won,” Djokovic later added. “Indoors has been historically very successful for me. Playing in Italy, in a country where I love to play, where I have really special connection with people, makes this trophy and this win even more special.”

"My family makes my life on Tour easier"

“I'm very grateful to my wife and my children for coming. I don't get to have these moments on the Tour with them so much, so I of course try to enjoy it as much as I possibly can,” Djokovic said. “I took both of my children, particularly my son, to a lot of the tennis training sessions, warmups and matches. He was very loud during the final. I was very surprised. I could hear his voice the entire time. He was very much into it".

“They make my life on Tour easier. The pressures, the expectations, the tensions that you normally go through in a big tournament like this, when they're around, it lowers a bit so I can have that time off, quality time with my family. That really soothes me and gives me serenity in order to recalibrate and play my best tennis the next day. I cherish these moments a lot. Hopefully, as they grow older, they'll realise even more what special moments we're living together.”

“I don't know what the future holds, but I know that what I hold in my mind is a huge hunger still to win trophies,” Djokovic said in his post-match press conference. “To make history in this sport, compete on the highest level all around the world, bring good emotions to sports fans, tennis fans. That's what drives me a lot".

“I have a lot of different motivational factors, and I don't lack any motivation for the moment. Of course, we all have bad days or bad weeks. But generally the feeling is still there.”

"Seven years since winning this title has been a long time. At the same time, the fact that I waited seven years makes this victory even sweeter and even bigger”, Djokovic concluded.