Novak Djokovic aimed to fulfil his lifetime goal of becoming world number one next year after winning the season-ending Masters Cup on Sunday. The 21-year-old Serbian started the year with his first grand slam title at the Australian Open and ended it with a 6-1 7-5 victory over Russian Nikolay Davydenko to close within 10 ranking points of world number two Roger Federer.
"Certainly I believe that I have the quality to reach the top spot in the upcoming year or next couple of years, (maybe) 10 years," he said. "That is my lifetime goal that I've been always trying to achieve. But I have learned a lesson. If I pay too much attention to rankings, it doesn't go the right way."
While conceding that Rafael Nadal deserved to finish the season as the top player, Djokovic was pleased to see new younger players challenger the Spaniard and Swiss Federer. "Now it's not only about the two players any more," he said. "It's about five, six, seven players who are playing really well and can win against each other. "I think it's good for the sport to see some new faces playing the final stages of the major events."
Djokovic was particularly pleased with his victory on Sunday because he had lost his last three finals - at Queen's, the Cincinnati Masters and in Bangkok - and not won a title since the Rome Masters in May. "I didn't manage to win a couple of finals, but I've done it now," said the Serbian, who also won the Masters Series event in Indian Wells in March.
"I ended up the season the way I started it, with a win in a big event. So it's a great boost for the upcoming season." Serbian tennis has had a good year with Jelena Jankovic the number one woman and Nenad Zimonjic teaming up with Belgrade-born Canadian Daniel Nestor on Sunday to win the Masters Cup and take the number one spot in doubles.
"I think Serbia's getting used to number one so I'll have to work on that, I guess," joked Djokovic. "Probably the fact that we didn't have the best possible conditions gave us more motivation to succeed."
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