Twenty-four hours after being at odds with tournament organisers, two-time Sydney International winner Viktor Troicki has promised to come back to Olympic Park.
The world No.22 became just the fourth player in the professional era to claim back-to-back titles in Sydney after outlasting Grigor Dimitrov 1-6 6-2 7-6 (9-7) on Saturday night.
He joins an exclusive group to successfully defend their crown at Ken Rosewall arena, including former world No.1s Pete Sampras (1993-94) and Lleyton Hewitt (2000-01 and 2004-05) and American James Blake (2006-07).
His third career title comes just one day after blasting organisers for failing to feature the defending champion on centre court throughout the week.
The Serbian No.2 also took exception at being forced to play his semi-final on showcourt one, where he was angered by an adjacent marquee filled with loud and boozy patrons.
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But all was forgiven by tournament's end after he emerged victorious from a two hour, 16 minute epic.
"Got to go for a third one, I guess," an exhausted Troicki promised.
"It's a joy playing here. It's a lovely stadium. I really like it. I would love to come back."
The 29-year-old's focus now turns to the Australian Open at Melbourne Park, where he has drawn world No.77 Daniel Munoz De La Nava from Spain in the first round.
A likely date with 13th-seed Milos Raonic awaits in the round of 32.
Troicki, who hit a career-high ranking of No.12 almost five years ago but has never reached the final 16 of a grand slam, said he was exhausted after playing eight sets in three matches across two days.
"I couldn't imagine what would have happened if I lost today. It would've been just crazy to recover from it," he said.
"I still cannot show my emotions because I'm really tired. I don't know how long the match was, but I just felt it was lasting forever. I ran a lot during these two days."
