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LONDON – Novak Djokovic survived a scare at the start of his bid to regain the world number one ranking as the Serb battled back for a 6-7 (10/12), 6-0, 6-2 victory over Austria’s Dominic Thiem at the ATP Tour Finals on Sunday.
Djokovic’s 122-week reign at the top was ended by Andy Murray last weekend.
However, he can climb back up the pole position by the end of the tournament if he lifts the Tour Finals title for a fifth successive year while winning at least two of his group stage matches.
The 29-year-old remains on track to achieve that target despite a shaky first set in the opening match of the prestigious season-ending tournament at London’s O2 Arena.
And amid all the questions about Djokovic’s decline, he can still clinch the season-ending number one spot for a third consecutive year and equal Roger Federer’s record of six Tour Finals titles by the end of next week.
Djokovic established himself in the pantheon of all-time greats in June when his French Open triumph made him only the fifth man in the Open era to complete a clean sweep of the four Grand Slam tournaments.
But since that historic triumph the Serb had been stuck in a puzzling slump that has seen him suffer embarrassingly early exits from Wimbledon and the Rio Olympics.
Having shaken off his early lethargy, Djokovic eventually blew Thiem away in emphatic fashion and is now 19-1 in his last 20 matches at the Tour Finals. (AFP)
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