By Richard Pagliaro | Thursday, November 1, 2018
Calling his return to world No. 1 a "phenomenal achievement," Novak Djokovic now sets his sights on the year-end top spot.
Photo credit: Christopher Levy
Scaling the rankings summit feels like "a phenomenal achievement" for Novak Djokovic.
Returning to the top of the world rankings doesn't diminish Djokovic's desire to continue his climb.
More: Nadal Withdraws From Paris, Loses Top Spot
The Wimbledon champion will supplant Rafael Nadal as world No. 1 and regain the top spot for the first time in two years when the new ATP rankings are released on Monday.
It is Djokovic's fourth trip to the top.
Djokovic's ultimate aim is to finish as year-end No. 1 for the fifth time, surpassing Nadal who has finished as year-end No. 1 four times.
"I'm obviously very proud of the achievement, but I haven't been really reflecting on that and I haven't been really focusing on that too much because it's the middle of the week," Djokovic told the media in Paris. "So I guess it will be different when I finish this tournament and hopefully the year-end ranking stays the same.
"So that's the aim and obviously then I'll be able to reflect on my emotions and share with you more."
A red-hot Dokovic scored his 20th straight win in Paris today—the sixth 20-match win streak of his career.
Djokovic held a 6-1, 2-1 lead in his Paris Rolex Masters opener when opponent Damir Dzumhur retired extending the Serbian's streak to a personal-best 30 consecutive sets.
It's a remarkable revival for the 31-year-old baseliner, who underwent elbow surgery in February and could barely flex his right elbow.
Since the start of Wimbledon, a red-hot Djokovic has rolled to a 29-1 record with his lone loss in that span coming to Stefanos Tsitsipas in the Rogers Cup round of 16 in August.
While today's presser sometimes sounded more about deflecting than reflecting, Djokovic knows exactly how far he's climbed—and realizes how arduous his career reclamation project has been.
"I'm obviously not happy to see [Nadal] being injured and pulling out from the tournament in this final race for top rankings," Djokovic said. "But at the same time, reflecting on what I've been through in the last year, it's quite a phenomenal achievement. And of course I'm very, very happy and proud about it.
"Five months ago if you told me that, I always believe in myself, but it was highly improbable at that time considering my ranking and the way I played and felt on the court. So, yeah, as I said, I'll probably be able to speak more profoundly about it when the season is done and hopefully if I get to finish as No. 1."
Djokovic, who started the season ranked No. 12, faces nemesis Marin Cilic for a spot in the final four.
The fifth-seeded Cilic fought off four of five break points in a 7-6 (5), 6-4 conquest of Grigor Dimitrov earlier today.
The second-seeded Djokovic has won 15 of 17 meetings with Cilic, including a 6-4, 3-6, 6-3 victory in their most recent clash in the Cincinnati semifinals. Cilic has won two of their last three matches, including a 6-4, 7-6 (2) decision in the 2016 Paris quarterfinals.
"I had a very good head-to-head record until that match, actually a few years ago here," Djokovic said. "He was playing really well, I remember. He likes playing indoors. Obviously he has a big serve and big game from back of the court. It's just a very powerful style of tennis."
Friday's face-off is a rematch of the Queen's Club final that saw Cilic save a championship point to claim his 18th career title.
Continuing his quest for his fifth title of the season, Djokovic will try to defuse Cilic's explosive firepower in the rematch.
"He's been playing well the two matches here I have seen him play," Djokovic said. "And it's going to be a tough one. Tough to receive his missiles. First serves are really, really fast, and he uses a lot of rotation and variation with his serve. And if he has a first serve percentage quite high, then it's obviously a big challenge to play him because he's got the really big game from back of the court. Great backhand, flat, you know. He can play very aggressively and he can also defend well.
"But look, I know his game. I've played him many, many times and we practice a lot. We respect each other. We get along very well. We speak the same language. So I'm looking forward to it. It's going to be a great match."