Novak Djokovic named L’Equipe’s 2023 Men’s Champion of Champions for the second time in three years

Novak Djokovic pipped the second contender on the list by a massive 515 points.

Novak Djokovic named L’Equipe’s 2023 Men’s Champion of Champions for the second time in three years

Novak Djokovic named L'Euipe Men's Champion of Champions for 2023 (Image via L'Equipe)

Serbian tennis ace Novak Djokovic dominated the 2023 season. The 36-year-old won three of the four Grand Slam tournaments and also won the 2023 ATP Finals. Along with these, the 24-time Grand Slam winner also finished as the year-end no.1. French publication L’Equipe recognized this dominance from Djokovic as he has been named the 2023 Men’s Champions of Champions. 

This was the second time in three years that Djokovic won this prestigious award. The Serbian was a clear winner as he was over 500 points ahead of the second contender on the list- French swimmer Léon Marchand with 361 points.  Dutch Formula 1 World Champion Max Verstappen was third (348 points), American sprinter Noah Lyles fourth (315 points), and South African rugby World Cup-winning captain Siya Kolisi fifth (215).

YouTube video

It is worth mentioning that Djokovic is the fourth men’s tennis player to get the honor, after Andre Agassi (1999), Roger Federer (2005, 2006, 2007, 2010, 2017), and Rafael Nadal (2010, 2013, 2017, 2019). In the women’s category, Serena Williams has won it three times while Iga Swiatek won the award in 2022.

FS Video

Novak Djokovic wins the award in the year which is not even his best

Novak Djokovic was way ahead of others not only in the list of contenders for this prestigious award but on the ATP tour as well. The Serbian won three of the four Grand Slam titles and came agonizingly close to completing a Calendar Slam. He won the season-ending championships and then ended the year at the top of the rankings for the eighth time in his career.

Novak Djokovic US Open win
Novak Djokovic after his US Open win (Image via US Open)

But despite all these achievements, Djokovic did not rate this year as his best. The 36-year-old said that while this is one of the best seasons for him, it is not the best. The Serbian rates those years where he played consistently and still won a lot of titles above this one where he played in selective tournaments. 

It’s definitely one of the best seasons. I had a couple of years, I think three times, that I won three out of four Slams in a season…in those years, I won more matches. I mean, I played more tournaments. I was really feeling very dominant on the tour. It’s quite different circumstances this year compared to all the other years because I played, what, 10, 11 tournaments this year.
Novak Djokovic said via Tennis365

Notably, 2011 and 2015 are two such years where Novak Djokovic had a similar outing. He won titles for fun and dominated opponents with ease. However, it was special for him to dominate the tour in those two years because his biggest rivals- Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal were still active on the tour and were also in their prime.

In case you missed it!