Novak Djokovic equalled Roger Federer's record of six ATP Finals titles with victory over Casper Ruud in straight sets in Sunday's Turin final.
The 21-time Grand Slam champion had only dropped one set en route to the showpiece event and took just one hour and 32 minutes to prevail 7-5 6-3.
Winning just 38% of his second serve points in the first set proved fatal for Ruud against Djokovic and his ever-impressive returns, and the Norwegian did not earn a single chance to break in the early exchanges either.
Djokovic had to be patient to earn the breakthrough in the first set, with Ruud saving two break points in his opening service game before going 30-0 up on the Serbian's serve and failing to capitalise.
Djokovic missed another break point in game eight but continued to give very little away on serve, and a pair of winners saw him bring up a fourth chance to break in the 12th game of a tight first set.
Ruud sent a backhand long to hand the Serbian the first set, and a galvanized Djokovic then broke for a 3-1 lead in the second set to leave Ruud with a mountain to climb.
© Reuters
The winners then came in abundance for Djokovic, who racked up eight in his next three games to suffocate any thin hopes of a Ruud fightback on centre court.
After bringing up championship point, Djokovic hit one final ace - his ninth and final one of the day - down the T to seal victory to write a couple more chapters in the history books.
The 35-year-old becomes the oldest ATP Finals winner in history and is now tied with Federer for the most championships in history, having previously come up trumps in 2008, 2012, 2013, 2014 and 2015.
Djokovic has also pocketed a whopping $4.7m (£4m) cheque for going through the tournament unbeaten, and the Serbian believes that the long wait for another year-end title was worth it.
"[You have] got to stay focused the entire match, every single point, the momentum can switch to the other side really quickly. The fact that I waited seven years makes this victory even sweeter," Djokovic said on the court.
Meanwhile, Great Britain's Joe Salisbury and partner Rajeev Ram won their first doubles title in the ATP Finals, defeating Croatia's Nikola Mektic and Mate Pavic 7-6[4] 6-4.
Ben Knapton
