Novak Djokovic finished the year as world number one on the ATP Tour, but ahead of the season, he had serious doubts about whether that would be possible.
It's been a very interesting year for Novak Djokovic, who was still the dominant force when he did play. It was a year that started with an Australian Open trophy, something he's pretty much used to by now, but also a year that saw him miss some events.
His ban to enter the United States was only lited after the Sunshine Double, so his first event back was the Cincinnati Masters, an event he won by beating Carlos Alcaraz in the final.
He would win the US Open a few weeks after that but finally got beaten at Wimbledon by Alcaraz. It's been a roller-coaster year, but one that ultimately finished the way he wanted.
He finished strongly by winning the Paris Masters and then the ATP Finals as well, with those achievements guaranteeing him to finish the year as world number one.
It was the major goal before the season concluded, so he was happy about being able to get it done. It was something he didn't expect at the start of the year which is understandable.
It’s amazing because starting the year I knew schedule-wise I wouldn’t being playing the Tour as much as other players, so I didn't know if I fancied my chances to end the year as No. 1, but I was fortunate to play so well in those 11 or 12 tournaments I participated in, I accumulated a lot of points.
If you'd ask him right now whether he feels the same about next year he'd probably tell you that he does. It's going to be a really tough battle to keep that number one rank, but we're excited to see it.