Serbian tennis legend Novak Djokovic showed that he cannot be written off and earned a record 411th Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) Masters 1000 match win on Sunday.
A 6-1 7-6(1) third-round victory over Argentine lucky Camilo Ugo Carabelli at the Miami Open also put Djokovic a step closer to his 100th singles title.
Additionally, he has spent more than 400 weeks at number one and now sits fifth in the rankings, but despite claiming another record, the 37-year-old said that chasing the world number one ranking is not his main objective anymore.
“If it comes as a consequence of great results and titles that I win in a season, then that’s amazing. But that’s not my objective,” Djokovic told reporters.
The 24-time Grand Slam champion said that he will happily take major tournament victories over the top spot in the twilight of his glittering career.
“My objective is to be able to play my best tennis at the Grand Slams and the tournaments where I participate. My schedule is revised, so obviously I’m not chasing ranking points.
“It’s different nowadays, maybe, than it was a few years back (or) for most of my career, to be honest. I’m happy to win a Grand Slam and a big tournament rather than getting to number one. Right now that’s more important for me.”
Jimmy Connors with 109 and Roger Federer with 103 are the only men with more titles than Djokovic but he said climbing to the top of the list could be difficult.
“It would definitely be amazing to get to that record,” Djokovic added. “Connors is someone that I truly admire and respect. He’s always very supportive of me in public, I’m thankful for that. It would be amazing.
“But again, it’s probably more difficult to achieve that nowadays for me than maybe it was some years ago. I’ll go step by step. I’ll see. I don’t know how long I’m going to compete for. But I’m still enjoying myself when I play well.”
