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Ivan Dodig and Austin Krajicek have earned Year-End ATP Doubles No. 1 presented by Pepperstone honours for the first time.
The Croatian-American duo, which teamed for the first time last year, enjoyed a banner 2023 campaign to finish atop the standings.
Dodig said: “This year was an amazing year for me and Austin. We won five tournaments this year, one Grand Slam, a Masters [1000] and three 500 tournaments. We had a great year, played very consistent. All the hard work we put this year, it’s just amazing to finish the year as the number one team and really proud and happy about that. Actually it was one of my best years, even though I’m already for the ninth time in the [Nitto ATP Finals]… I was always playing consistent, was always Top 10 in the world in doubles. But this is something special. This was my goal since I started a couple of years back to only focus on doubles. And now I’m number one as a team.”
Krajicek said: “It’s an amazing feeling for sure. Obviously a tough end of the year for us at the Finals, but it really was a special year, the whole year. It’s a cool feeling. It’s hard to put into words. It’s pretty cool to be able to finish as the number one team and know that the hard work you put in all year, all the ups and downs and tough losses and really special wins we’ve had this year came together at the end there and pretty cool to be able to finish the year number one. It’s something that we can always be proud of and look back on, so we’re super excited about that.”
Dodig and Krajicek won their first Grand Slam championship together at Roland Garros one year after reaching the championship match in Paris. It was one of five titles they won this season, tied for the most on the ATP Tour among doubles teams with Maximo Gonzalez and Andres Molteni.
The year-end No. 1 duo claimed all five of its titles at or above the ATP 500 level. Dodig and Krajicek also triumphed at the ATP Masters 1000 event in Monte-Carlo and ATP 500 tournaments in Rotterdam, London/Queen’s Club and Beijing.
Finishing 2023 with a 39-15 record, 38-year-old Dodig and 33-year-old Krajicek also made finals at ATP Masters 1000 Miami, Adelaide-2 and Eastbourne, and advanced to the semi-finals of the US Open.
“Hopefully still some more years to come and still a good time ahead of me but happy with this one,” Dodig said. “And together with my partner we really put all the work. And I think we both deserve this one. We played through the year very consistent. We won a lot of big matches, a lot of big tournaments and in the end a few hundred points decided who was going to be number one and this time happened for us and really happy about that.”
Dodig and Krajicek were the top seeds at the Nitto ATP Finals, where they won one match in Green Group action, which ultimately secured their year-end No. 1 finish.
As an individual, Krajicek climbed to No. 1 in the Pepperstone ATP Doubles Rankings in June for the first time. He also finishes the season in top spot. Dodig ascended to a career-high World No. 2 in September.
“We couldn’t do it without our team. I think we’ve got a special group of people around us. Both of our families at home, wives that put up with us traveling like maniacs all year long and then coaches, my coach Philip Farmer, our physio, Tom, and and then Ivan’s brother,” Krajicek said. “Just a special group of people that all year keeps us level-headed and being able to push through the hard times. I think without them it’s not possible. So I also just would say that it comes with a special group to make it possible.”
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