ATP Finals history seeker Djokovic desires trophy "as much as anyone"

Novak Djokovic says he's aiming for another title win at the ATP Finals, even though he's secured his No. 1 position in the rankings.

The top seed is motivated to make further history at the year-end tournament, which he is also attempting to win a record-tying six times.

"Coming into the tournament knowing I already clinched releases some of the pressure definitely, but at the same time it doesn’t change what I hope to achieve in this tournament and why I’m here," Djokovic told press before the tournament. "I really want to win every single match that I get to play and try to get my hands on the trophy and I want this trophy as much as anyone here."

The 33-year-old has won more matches at this event than the rest of the field combined, and says his success "helps me feel more comfortable and confident about myself on the court."

Getty Images

Only the top eight qualify for the ATP Finals, which will cap a highly-disrupted season in which three of the four Grand Slams and just three of nine Masters Series events were played. But Djokovic also expressed concern about the reduction in Challenger and ITF competitions during the coronavirus pandemic.

"I think for tennis it's great that we actually have an opportunity to compete at the biggest tournaments in the world or at least most," he said. "But it is troubling to hear and to see that on the Futures level, on the first level of the professional tour, there are really very few tournaments and the biggest group of professional players on the rankings is actually there."

Djokovic will receive his year-end No. 1 trophy Sunday in an on-court ceremony, before opening round-robin play against Diego Schwartzman in Monday's day session. The other players in Group Tokyo 1970 are Daniil Medvedev and 2018 champion Alexander Zverev.