Paris: Novak Djokovic and Serena Williams were on Thursday named as men’s and women’s World Champions for 2014 by the International Tennis Federation (ITF).
It is the fourth time that Djokovic has taken the top award after he won Wimbledon, the ATP World Tour Finals and finished the year ranked number one in the world by the ATP.
The 27-year-old Serb is one of only four men to be named ITF World Champion four or more times, alongside Ivan Lendl, Pete Sampras and Roger Federer.
Williams won the US Open, the 18th Grand Slam title of her career, the WTA Tour Championship and was also ranked number one by the WTA.
At 33 she is the oldest player ever to be named an ITF Singles World Champion.
“This was a year of challenges and triumphs, so to win another Grand Slam and retain my year-end number one ranking is an accomplishment I’m very proud of,” she said.
Americans Bob and Mike Bryan were named men’s doubles World Champions for the 11th time in 12 years, while Sara Errani and Roberta Vinci of Italy became women’s doubles World Champions for the third successive year.
The ITF World Champions will receive their awards at the 2015 ITF World Champions Dinner in Paris during Roland Garros in June.
