Novak Djokovic didn’t have the easiest week on his return to tour-level action, being on the brink of defeat on three consecutive days but holding his nerve to reach another final, where he reclaimed a title he knows well: the Paris Masters 1000 trophy, his penultimate event of the 2023 campaign. Grigor Dimitrov was a deserving finalist this week, but ran out of steam in a straight-sets scoreline.
After memorable week, Dimitrov unstuck vs. Djokovic again
- Result now means world no. 1 Djokovic becomes a seven-time Paris Masters champion after last year’s final disappointment, records his 97th ATP tour-level title and is 12 behind all-time leader Jimmy Connors (109)
- Djokovic highlights Dimitrov’s progress after Bulgarian falls short at final hurdle in his first Masters 1000 final for six years: “It’s never good to lose in the finals but you’ve played some of the greatest tennis I’ve seen in the last few months, we go back a long time… kind of veterans of the tour.”
- 32-year-old was visibly tearful post-match and admitted words cannot express the gratitude he has towards Bercy crowd: “I’m really grateful, the past three months have been a rollercoaster for me so getting to the final means so much more than you guys can imagine. An amazing journey this year, completed on a high note and very pleased for that.”
Djokovic [1] bt. Dimitrov 6-4, 6-3
A stomach virus, back niggle, wrist complaint, frequent use of the eye drops and often looking low on energy. If you hadn’t been paying close attention to events in Paris this week, you’d think Novak Djokovic just cruised to another Masters 1000 title.
What’s so special about this? It was anything but straightforward, and the superb Serb made sure everyone watching knew as much after grinding his way past old friend Grigor Dimitrov to a straight-sets scoreline (6-4, 6-3) on Sunday afternoon.
Neither was playing their best and pensive was an apt way to describe proceedings for the first half-hour on Court Central, Dimitrov flirting with a few half-chances to earn a break point opportunity before an untimely error arrived or Djokovic sternly shut the door before pressure threatened to mount on the 36-year-old’s serve.
When it’s firing, it is fearsome. When it isn’t, like against Tallon Griekspoor and Boris Becker’s new pupil Holger Rune in particular earlier this week, it is jarring.
Djokovic’s serving statistics this week
Dimitrov: six aces, one double, 67% first serve
Andrey Rublev: 17 aces, five doubles, 67% first serve
Rune: 10 aces, four double-faults, 52% first serve
Griekspoor: nine aces, seven double-faults, 62% first serve
Djokovic vs. TM Etcheverry: six aces, three double-faults, 62% first serve
You could feel Dimitrov’s resolve start to weaken considerably after a loose service game littered with unforced errors handed Djokovic a 4-3 advantage and as the Serb shook his racquet in celebration, he now had an advantage to consolidate.
A love-hold followed for the Serb straight afterwards, as the Amazon Prime Video commentators noted Dimitrov looked loose and free on court against other opponents all week but not now against a man he’d regularly lost to.
Dimitrov’s fantastic week
SF: 6-3, 6-7, 7-6 vs. Stefanos Tsitsipas
QF: 6-1, 4-6, 6-4 vs. Hubert Hurkacz
R3: 6-2, 6-2 vs. Alexander Bublik
R2: 6-3, 6-7, 7-6 vs. Daniil Medvedev
R1: 6-2, 6-7, 6-3 vs. Lorenzo Musetti
An 11-1 H2H record in the 36-year-old’s favour will do that to you psychologically, especially given how quickly he can zap the fight out of your game with variety and tendency to upset the rhythm without warning.
Dimitrov responded well to force the serve it out question in the subsequent game, knowing Djokovic still wasn’t at his best – leading or not – though you’re rarely giving yourself a chance with 19 unforced errors in a set as the former world no. 3 had.
He won perhaps the point of the match at that stage, having the last word in a 33-shot rally before the US Open champion responded as you’d expect.
A big serve down the t produced his first set point, and soon enough the first frame was complete after another errant slice down the other end.
An ominous statistic was floated into the ether as Dimitrov went off court between sets: when Djokovic wins the first set in a best-of-three set final, he’s 60-2 in his career (Rune in Paris last year, and Marin Cilic at Queens 2018).
Yet the Bulgarian had some hope, after an improved final game of set one. Utilising the backhand slice to open up aggressive forehand groundstrokes was the tactic, executing well and in the right places on court was harder to consistently achieve.
So it proved. More errors from the Dimitrov backhand were a theme in set two, as Djokovic upped the ante and went bigger on some returns with the finish line near.
A crosscourt forehand and booming backhand winner were among his highlight reel shots and soon enough, his hands were on another trophy he’s used to winning.
What’s next?
Dimitrov made sure to thank his coaches, Daniel Vallerdu and Jamie Delgado, in a post-match speech that should spur him onto achieving more success in 2024.
Djokovic said the match was closer than the straight-sets scoreline indicated, and that’s how it goes sometimes. When you don’t take openings before a top player truly gets going, you’re often left to rue what might have been.
“I’ve been blessed to win more than I lost and really hope that he [Dimitrov] will continue to play on a high level, he’s played some of his best tennis this week and hopefully can win big events.”
- Djokovic on Dimitrov in his flash interview
Finding that extra gear when it was needed, is something the Bulgarian has lacked previously and cost him dearly against the world’s very best players over longer distances – whether that’s a best-of-three or five-set Major matches. These last few weeks have proven he’s good enough to match, and beat them, but belief is key.
As for Djokovic, he gets a week off to recover before looking to replicate last year’s success in Turin headlining a stacked elite eight this season. Alcaraz has struggled with injury and form of late, Tsitsipas and Zverev among unpredictable x-factors but you can’t ignore new world no. 4 Jannik Sinner after his finish to the campaign.
Picture source: Getty Images
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