<div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size: 1rem;"><span style="font-weight: bolder;">Novak Djokovic said winning a record-equalling sixth ATP Tour Finals title on Sunday was a "deeply satisfying" ending to his troubled and truncated year.</span></span><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The Serb beat Norwegian Casper Ruud 7-5, 6-3 in Turin to match Roger Federer's record of six titles in the year-ending tournament for the top-ranked players.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The 35-year-old Serb, the oldest player to win the Finals, ended in style after a season in which he missed two majors because of his vaccine status.</div><div style="text-align: justify;">"It feels deeply satisfying and, at the same time, a huge relief because of the circumstances that I have been through this year, situations earlier this year, of course, with Australia," he said.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">"We don't need to go back. We know what happened."</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">In January, Djokovic was detained and deported from Australia over his Covid non-vaccinated status and missed the Australian Open.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">"That had an effect obviously on my start of the year. For the first several months, I was trying to find that balance game-wise but also mentally in order to be able to come back to the court and find that tennis level that I need."</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Djokovic was initially barred from returning to Australia before 2025 but earlier in the week the new government in Canberra said the nine-time Australian Open champion would be free to compete in January's tournament.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">"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," said Djokovic.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The win in Turin, which also brings a cheque for $4.7 million, came seven years after his last ATP Finals victory and will lift him from eighth to fifth in Monday's new rankings at the end of a season in which he also won Wimbledon. Carlos Alcaraz, who missed the finals injured, is number one.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">"In my mind I always see myself as the best player in the world, of course," he said.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">"I'm not. I'm fifth. This week I probably am. Overall the rankings are showing who had the best year, and Alcaraz is the No. 1 in the world."</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Djokovic and his wife brought his eight-year-old son and five-year-old daughter to Turin.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">"Extremely special for me," he said. "I don't get to have these moments on the tour with them so much."</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">"I took both of my children, particularly my son, a lot to the tennis training sessions, warmups, matches. He was very loud, I must say. I was very surprised. I could hear his voice the entire time."</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">"They both are now aware of what's going on, what the father is doing."</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-weight: bolder;">- 'Close points' -</span></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">For the 23-year-old Ruud it was a third near-miss of the year. He also lost the finals of the French and US Opens.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">"In the end it's been disappointing to end up losing these big finals," he said.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">"Overall if you gave me an offer to end the year at No. 3, play the finals that I've played, at the first of January this year, I would probably sign the contract right away."</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">"I've overachieved compared to my own mind, so I'm very happy about that."</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Ruud has never taken a set from either Djokovic or his French Open final conqueror Rafael Nadal.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">"They have this sort of ability in them to step up when they really have to that I don't have," Ruud said. "They always seem to win the close points, the close sets."</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The American Rajeev Ram and Britain's Joe Salisbury took the doubles title with a 7-6 (7/4), 6-4 win over the Croatian pair of Nikola Mektic and Mate Pavic.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Ram and Salisbury lost in last year's final to French pair Nicolas Mahut and Pierre-Hugues Herber. AFP</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">bnbd24/kh</div>