'Super-pumped' Novak Djokovic ending troubled year on a high

Novak Djokovic believes his prolonged but self-inflicted absences in 2022 make him even more "super-pumped and motivated" to finish a year which started with the ignominy of deportation from Australia on a high. The 35-year-old swept to back-to-back titles when he comfortably defeated Stefanos Tsitsipas 6-3, 6-4 in the Astana final on Sunday, a week after securing the Tel Aviv trophy. "I could not ask for a better restart of the season. I'm super-pumped and motivated to end the season as well as I have done these past couple of weeks," said the former world number one.

Read AlsoNovak Djokovic takes 90th career title with Astana victory

Novak Djokovic claimed the 90th title of his career and the fourth of 2022 with a dominant straight-sets victory over Stefanos Tsitsipas in the ATP final in Astana on Sunday.

Djokovic now has four titles from just 10 events this season following victories in Rome and at Wimbledon. His win in the Italian capital in May gave him a 38th Masters; his Wimbledon triumph in July then equalled Pete Sampras's mark of seven at the All England Club and took him to 21 Grand Slams. Only Rafael Nadal, with 22, has more men's majors. All this in a year which saw him booted out of Melbourne and banned from travelling to North America over his continued refusal to be vaccinated. With the exception of the Laver Cup in London, which doubled up as Roger Federer's farewell, Djokovic didn't play for the best part of three months after Wimbledon.

His "restart" in Israel came 16 years after he last played in the country. Djokovic's determination not to waver over his vaccination stance meant he missed two of the year's four Slams, at the Australian and US Opens, and four of eight Masters in Indian Wells, Miami,