Do you still remember the days when you were at your peak? Novak Djokovic Would he rip his shirt off after a crazy fight, a sign of his invincibility and insatiable desire to make history in our sport?
The years have passed, but the fire remains.
Djokovic defeated Lorenzo Musetti 4-6, 6-3, 7-5 in a 2-hour, 59-minute battle in Athens on Saturday to win his 101st career title. After the fight, as the crowd in Athens went wild, he ripped the shirt off his back.
What a wonderful moment for Djokovic, who at 38 years and five months became the oldest titleholder in ATP history.
The 24-time Grand Slam champion is two titles shy of Roger Federer’s 103 titles and eight short of Jimmy Connors’ record 109 ATP titles. With this victory, his career record improved to 1163 wins and 233 losses.
Musetti told the 38-year-old at the award ceremony: “At your age you are already outstanding, as I was today, but every time I go out there and play against you and compete with you, I take it as a lesson, so thank you.”
Had Musetti won, he would have overtaken Felix Auger-Aliassime to become the final qualifier for next week’s Nitto ATP Finals. Instead, if Djokovic decides to play, he will travel to Turin as one of two substitutes.
Sky Sports has announced that Djokovic has chosen to withdraw from the ATP Finals. If this is indeed the case, both Musetti and Auger-Aliassime will be eligible.
“I know it’s hard to accept this feeling right now,” Djokovic told Musetti. “If there’s one positive thing that I can take away, it’s that the level of tennis you’ve been playing all week has been incredible. Today especially, I’ve played you a lot on different surfaces and to be honest, your improvement on the hard courts has been amazing. Keep going, you’re on the right path and I’m sure your future is bright.”
It was a back-and-forth battle with both players playing high-quality tennis. Musetti, who is aiming to qualify for the ATP Finals and look to end his five-match losing streak in the ATP Finals, started strong, breaking serve at 2-1 and establishing himself in a clean first set.
But Djokovic worked hard in the middle set, and his efforts were finally rewarded with a 5-3 break. He then saved a break point on serve and forced the match into a decider two points later.
There were two breaks of serve in a chaotic final, with Djokovic twice taking the lead, only for the 23-year-old Italian to pull back both times. In the end, Djokovic cashed in his fourth break point in the 11th game and led 6-5.
He ends the title with love.
Oldest ATP Tour Champions (since the ATP Tour was founded in 1990):
Novak Djokovic 38Y 5M 2025 Athens (beat Musetti)
Gael Monfils 38 Apr 2025 Oakland (beat Burgess)
Roger Federer 38 years old 2M 2019 Basel (beat De Minaur)
Novak Djokovic 38Y 2D 2025 Geneva (beat Hurkacz)
Roger Federer 37 years old 10M 2019 Harley (beat Goffin)
Feliciano Lopez 37Y 9M 2019 London/Queen’s Club (defeat Simon)
