Novak Djokovic will join Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal in winning this year’s men’s singles title when he takes on Juan Martin del Potro in Sunday’s final at the ATP World Tour Finals. But he will not have won on his own turf for a decade. Here, against the backdrop of his record-breaking journey, look at the hard work Djokovic has had to do in order to reach the summit:
2014 Djokovic shows form Djokovic back on track and in the hunt for record sixth title of the year. The world No3 reached the last four of Wimbledon and the US Open and finished the year with nine titles to his name. Djokovic took more than a year to return from elbow surgery and emerged second behind Federer in the year-end rankings as a result.
2015 After a tricky start, it’s Djokovic’s time to shine Federer will face top seed Andy Murray in the other semi-final on Sunday. The Serb was the first man to win Wimbledon five times as well as successfully defend the US Open title but made an early exit from the Australian Open before recovering to win the French Open.
2016 Djokovic catches up on rest Djokovic was rested by the French Open organisers during the US Open as he worked on his body following elbow surgery, and took his third Wimbledon title. Wimbledon will also hold a special place in his heart as it was the tournament he turned pro and became the youngest man to win the singles.
2017 In August the Serb is knocked out of the US Open before being forced to pull out of the next Masters event in Shanghai and the China Open. Djokovic says he took a complete break after the French Open, which will be his first time away from the court for this length of time. He quickly returned to finish the season at No2 in the world behind Federer.