Djokovic clinches his 100th career singles title at Geneva Open

The Associated Press

· Posted: May 24, 2025 1:45 PM EDT | Last Updated: May 24

Novak Djokovic made much tennis past by winning a 100th vocation singles rubric connected Saturday and his archetypal successful a metropolis that is peculiar to his family.

Djokovic yet reached his period aft rallying to bushed Hubert Hurkacz 5-7, 7-6 (2), 7-6 (2) successful much than 3 hours successful the Geneva Open final. He mislaid his 2 erstwhile finals since his 99th rubric triumph 9 months agone astatine the Paris Olympics astatine Roland-Garros.

He joins tennis greats Jimmy Connors, who has a grounds 109 titles, and Roger Federer connected 103 arsenic the lone men with a period of tourney wins successful the Open era.

The 100th followed a typically pugnacious and hard-working match, 2 days aft his 38th day and surrounded by his household successful the Swiss metropolis wherever immoderate relatives reside.

"I'm conscionable grateful to clinch the 100 here," Djokovic said successful an on-court interview. "I had to enactment for it, that is for sure."

His woman and children joined him successful Geneva to observe his day aft cutting a time disconnected school, Djokovic quipped, besides revealing different crushed wherefore helium grabbed a precocious wild-card introduction into the past clay-court warmup for the French Open.

The lakeside metropolis is location to a much-loved aunt and uncle, and cousins including 1 who precocious gave commencement to a babe the Djokovics truly wanted to meet.

The three-time French Open champion present heads backmost to Paris looking to adhd to his 24 Grand Slam singles titles. He has a first-round lucifer connected Monday against Mackenzie McDonald of the United States.

Winner successful 20 antithetic seasons

The Serb clinched with an ace down the mediate to implicit a surge to triumph aft breaking Hurkacz's service for the archetypal clip portion trailing 4-3 successful the deciding set. Djokovic took that break-point accidental with a forehand cross-court victor advancing to the nett connected Hurkacz's sliced half-volley.

"Hubert was astir apt person to the triumph the full lucifer than I was," Djokovic said. "I don't cognize however I broke his serve."

He is the archetypal antheral successful the Open epoch to triumph a rubric successful 20 antithetic seasons.

Djokovic's 100th singles rubric came astir 19 years aft the archetypal successful July 2006. That besides was connected clay, astatine Amersfoort successful the Netherlands, against Nicolas Massu — the Chilean who present coaches Hurkacz.

"It's truly inspiring however you contiguous yourself connected the court, disconnected the court. It's conscionable truly unthinkable what you person achieved," Hurkacz said to the victor successful the on-court trophy presentations.

Djokovic collected his trophy successful beforehand of 3 aureate balloons tethered to the tribunal spelling retired 1-0-0.

Came to Geneva desperate

Since the Paris Olympics, helium had mislaid finals astatine the Shanghai Masters to Jannik Sinner past year, and the Miami Masters to Jakub Mensik successful March.

Djokovic got overmuch much than the lucifer signifier helium came to Geneva for. He had fallen to speedy exits successful April from the erstwhile tournaments helium entered successful the European clay-court season, astatine Monte Carlo and Madrid.

Djokovic had break-point chances aboriginal successful the archetypal 2 sets and did not instrumentality them. At 2-2 successful the archetypal set, Hurkacz saved the 2nd of back-to-back chances with a almighty work winner.

Hurkacz clinched the archetypal acceptable with his lone break-point accidental erstwhile Djokovic double-faulted.

In the opening crippled of the 2nd acceptable Hurkacz saved Djokovic's adjacent accidental with an overhead victor astatine the net. In the tiebreaker, Djokovic dominated to unit the decider.

Hurkacz instantly broke service again to pb the 3rd set. He got the accidental erstwhile a debased bouncing shot dived nether Djokovic's racket, and took it erstwhile the second-seeded Serb sent a forehand long.