VIENNA • Novak Djokovic virtually ensured equalling Pete Sampras' record of ending the year as world No. 1 for the sixth time on Wednesday, when he reached the Vienna ATP quarter-finals.
He defeated Croatia's Borna Coric 7-6 (13-11), 6-3 and will secure the year-end top spot as long as Rafael Nadal does not take an unlikely wild card for the Sofia event next month.
If the 33-year-old Serb wins the Vienna title on Sunday, he will make sure of the landmark regardless of Nadal playing in Bulgaria.
Djokovic, who now has 39 wins and just two defeats this year, has been the top-ranked player at the end of a season five times - in 2011, 2012, 2014, 2015 and 2018.
He shares that mark with Roger Federer and Nadal. Sampras achieved the feat six years in succession from 1993 to 1998.
"Sampras was my childhood idol growing up and it will be amazing to tie his record by being the year-end world No. 1 six times," Djokovic said on Sunday.
He also has another target of beating Federer's all-time best of 310 weeks spent on top of the rankings, currently enjoying his 292nd week in total as world No. 1.
Should he stay top, he will pass Federer in early March.
Djokovic, a 17-time Grand Slam title winner, is playing his first tournament since his straight-sets loss to Nadal in the Roland Garros final over two weeks ago.
He is seeking a fifth title of the year and next faces either Poland's Hubert Hurkacz or Italian lucky loser Lorenzo Sonego.
"It was very tiring and very challenging," said Djokovic after his fourth win in four meetings with Coric, the world No. 24.
"Borna is a great fighter. He's a very good friend of mine. Off the court, we've known each other for quite a long time."
Elsewhere, third seed Stefanos Tsitsipas opened his Vienna campaign with a 6-7 (3-7), 6-3, 6-4 win over Germany's Jan-Lennard Struff. The reigning ATP Finals champion will face Grigor Dimitrov for a place in the last eight.
Russian fourth seed Daniil Medvedev also progressed with a 6-3, 6-1 win over Taiwanese lucky loser Jason Jung.
AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
