Serb joins Connors and Federer as one of three men to win 100 tour-level singles titles
©Valentin Flauraud / AFPNovak Djokovic fought back to win a historic 100th singles title with a marathon victory over Hubert Hurkacz in the Geneva final on Saturday.
The Serb stood two points from defeat late in the second set and was 4-2 down in the decider, but hit back to win 5-7 7-6(2) 7-6(2) in a match that lasted over three hours at the clay court ATP 250 tournament.
The landmark result means Djokovic becomes only the third man in the Open Era to win 100 tour-level singles trophies. Jimmy Connors ended his career on 109, with Roger Federer in second on the leaderboard with 103.
Djokovic’s first title since winning Olympic gold in Paris last summer also makes him the first man in the Open Era to lift a title in 20 different seasons.
“I had to work for it that’s for sure,” said Djokovic, who was joined on court by his son Stefan.
“Hubi was probably closer to the victory the whole match than I was. It was an incredible match, 7-6 in the third with a full stadium and a beautiful atmosphere. Grateful to clinch the 100th here.”
It wasn’t looking good for the former world No.1 for large parts of a high quality contest that was dominated by Hurkacz early on. The Pole generated a first break point with Djokovic serving at 5-6 and a double fault by the Serb handed over the opener 7-5.
Djokovic was two points from defeat serving at 4-5 30-all in the second set, but played a superb tiebreak to level the match.
Again, Hurkacz took control with an early break in the decider only to hand back the initiative with a poor service game at 3-4 when he missed a forehand over the net, double faulted and sent another groundstroke long.
A tiebreak decided it and it was Djokovic who produced rock solid tennis when he needed it most, sealing victory with an ace after 3 hours and 4 minutes.
It concludes the perfect week of Roland-Garros preparation for Djokovic who can now get ready for a first round match against American Mackenzie Mcdonald. Hurkacz must dust himself down before a tough opening appointment in Paris with Brazilian sensation Joao Fonseca.
The big WTA final in Strasbourg, eastern France, on Saturday went the way of Kazakhstan’s Elena Rybakina who recovered from the loss of the second set to beat Liudmila Samsonova 6-1, 6-7(2), 6-1.
The victory gives former Wimbledon champion Rybakina her ninth career trophy and her first since the Stuttgart indoor clay event more than a year ago.
In the Hamburg ATP 500 final, Flavio Cobolli played a great match to beat Andrey Rublev 6-2, 6-4 to claim his second title in as many months.
The 23-year-old picked up his first in Bucharest in April and in northern Germany on Saturday his first ATP 500 level trophy, which moves the Italian to inside the top 30 of the ATP rankings.
In Rabat, Morocco, Australian teenager Maya Joint enjoyed the perfect weekend by adding the singles trophy to her doubles title from 24 hours earlier.
The 19-year-old beat Romania’s Jaqueline Cristian 6-3, 6-2 on Saturday for her maiden title at tour level. She plays fellow Aussie Ajla Tomljanovic in the first round at Roland-Garros.
ROLAND-GARROS
19 May - 8 June 2025
