Djokovic claims 101st career title as Rybakina lifts WTA Finals crown

Novak Djokovic won the 101st title of his career when he came from behind to beat Lorenzo Musetti 4-6, 6-3, 7-5 in the final of the ATP event in Athens on Saturday.

The Serb is one of just three men to have racked up a century of titles - he still needs two to equal Roger Federer’s 103 while Jimmy Connors heads the list with 109.

At 38 years and five months old, the 24-time Grand Slam winner is the oldest tournament winner since Australia’s Ken Rosewall, who was 43 when he won in Hong Kong in 1977.

It was Djokovic’s second title of 2025, having won on the clay of Geneva in May.

Musetti needed to win the title to secure the eighth and final place at next week’s ATP Finals. His defeat means that the Canadian Felix Auger-Aliassime will feature in Turin instead.

Djokovic had long since qualified for Turin, but kept everyone guessing until earlier this week about his participation in the prestigious end-of-season tournament.

Meanwhile, Elena Rybakina clinched her biggest title since Wimbledon in 2022 by defeating world number one Aryna Sabalenka 6-3, 7-6(7/0) at the WTA Finals in Riyadh on Saturday.

The world number six put on yet another serving masterclass and was at her returning best as she became the first Kazakh and the first player representing an Asian country to lift the WTA Finals singles trophy.

Having gone 3-0 in round-robin play, Rybakina earned a record $5.235 million and will finish the year ranked number five in the world.

“It’s been an incredible week, I honestly didn’t expect any result, and to go so far, it’s just incredible,” said Rybakina, who battled a shoulder injury all week.

“I want to congratulate Aryna also for being number one for the second year in a row, it’s an amazing achievement. Today was such a tough battle, some moments I got lucky, but this is tennis. I hope we’re going to play many more finals together.”

The ace leader on tour with 516 struck this season, Rybakina fired 13 against Sabalenka on Saturday, and finished the week with a total of 48 in Riyadh.

Rybakina was the last of the eight players in the singles field to qualify for the WTA Finals in Riyadh, and she did it by winning the 500-level title in Ningbo and reaching the semi-finals in Tokyo before withdrawing from the tournament.

Her winning streak now stands at 11 matches and she improved her head-to-head record against Sabalenka to 6-8.

Squaring off for the 14th time, Sabalenka and Rybakina form one of the most gripping rivalries of the WTA, dating back to 2019.

Rybakina entered the final carrying a 10-match winning streak. The last player to beat her was Sabalenka, who knocked out the Kazakh in the Wuhan quarter-finals four weeks ago.

Both players brought their A-game from the start, showcasing their signature brand of boom-boom tennis to stay neck and neck through the first five games.

It was Rybakina’s defence though that paid off in game six, her desperate lob drawing the error from Sabalenka, who netted the overhead to get broken.

Agencies