Novak Djokovic
After Australia

Djokovic entered the Dubai Championships in February, where vaccination was not required for entry. He was upset in the quarterfinals by eventual finalist Jiří Veselý, resulting in him conceding his world No. 1 ranking to Daniil Medvedev. This marked the first time a man outside of the Big Four was ranked singles world No. 1 since Andy Roddick in February 2004. Djokovic withdrew from both the Indian Wells Masters and the Miami Open, due to the United States forbidding unvaccinated foreign travellers. Despite being unable to play, Djokovic regained the world No. 1 ranking after Medvedev's third-round defeat at Indian Wells.

After being unable to play in March, Djokovic began his clay court season at the Monte-Carlo Masters in April. Seeded first, he received a bye in the first round and lost to eventual finalist Davidovich Fokina in the second, his first opening match loss since the 2018 Barcelona Open. Later that month, he reached the final of the Serbia Open and lost to Andrey Rublev in three sets. At the Madrid Open in May, Djokovic made it to the semifinals where he was beaten in three sets by 19-year-old Carlos Alcaraz, the eventual champion. At the Italian Open a week later, he reached the twelfth final of his career at this Masters. In the semifinals, he defeated Casper Ruud for his 1,000th career win, becoming only the fifth man in the Open Era to reach this milestone. In the final, he defeated Stefanos Tsitsipas in straight sets to win his sixth Italian Open and record-extending 38th Masters title.

Djokovic entered the French Open in May as the defending champion. After defeating Yoshihito Nishioka, Alex Molčan, Aljaž Bedene and Diego Schwartzman in straight sets, he faced Rafael Nadal in the quarterfinals for their record-extending 59th meeting. He lost in four sets, ending his French Open title defense. As a result of his quarterfinals defeat, he conceded the No. 1 ranking to Daniil Medvedev for the second time in 2022.

With his first-round win at the Wimbledon Championships against Kwon Soon-woo, Djokovic became the first player in history (male or female) to win 80 matches at all four majors. With his semifinal win over Cameron Norrie, Djokovic reached a record 32nd Grand Slam final, one ahead of Roger Federer. Djokovic went on to defeat Nick Kyrgios in the final in four sets for his fourth consecutive and seventh overall Wimbledon trophy. With this victory, he reached a total of 21 major titles, which broke his tie of 20 majors with Federer and put him one Grand Slam title behind Nadal.

Due to Djokovic's unvaccinated status against COVID-19, he was unable to compete in the US Open as the US government did not allow unvaccinated non-US citizens to enter the country. As a result, he withdrew from the tournament on 25 August. At the Astana Open in October, he defeated Medvedev in the semifinals and Stefanos Tsitsipas in the final to win his 90th singles title. Djokovic then competed at the Paris Masters, where he defeated Stefanos Tsitsipas in the semifinals to reach his third straight final of the season. It was also the 650th hard-court win of his career, making him just the third male player in the Open Era to record 650 or more career wins on any single surface. He then lost in the final to 19-year-old Holger Rune, which marked the first time Djokovic lost a Masters finals after winning the first set.

Seeded seventh at the ATP Finals, Djokovic won his first round robin match over second seed Stefanos Tsitsipas to record his 60th career victory over a Top 3 player, making him the first player to accomplish this milestone since the ATP rankings began in 1973. Djokovic then defeated sixth seed Andrey Rublev and fourth seed Daniil Medvedev to reach the semifinals, where he defeated Taylor Fritz to reach his eighth final at this event and secured his 15th year-end top-5 finish in the rankings. He defeated Casper Ruud to win a record-equaling sixth ATP Finals title. He is also the first player ever to win the ATP Finals in three different decades—the 2000s, 2010s and 2020s. Djokovic, at the age of 35, also became the oldest champion in the ATP Finals' 53-year history.
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