Novak Djokovic pounded out his 12th win in 13 matches against Grigor Dimitrov, leaving the underdog in tears of frustration after a 6-4, 6-3 defeat in Sunday’s final of the Paris Masters.
Djokovic posted his 10th straight win in the series as he claimed a seventh title indoors in Paris and a leading 40th trophy in a Masters 1000 event.
He now owns 97 career titles and has played at Bercy 17 times, the most of any competitor.
The beatdown of the Bulgarian lasted for barely 90 minutes, with Djokovic ending a quick afternoon on his first match point as Dimitrov drove a return wide.
Djokovic will now shift focus to the eight-man ATP Finals in Turin from next Sunday as well as the Davis Cup final in Spain where he will lead his native Serbia.
“It is incredible to win after quite challenging circumstances this week,” Djokovic, who suffered from stomach problems here said.
“I was in danger of losing my last three matches, but I found an extra gear when I needed to.
“We were both running out of gas today, but I was able to find an extra shot to get the ball over the net.
“The match was a lot closer than the scoreline.”
Djokovic had six aces and never faced a break point in the rout; he broke Dimitrov three times.
“This was an amazing win for me, considering…” Djokovic said, after interrupting a pos-tmatch interview to walk to the bench and comfort his devastated opponent again.
.”I’m fortunate to have won more finals than I have lost, but I know what Grigor is going through right now.
“I hope he will continue to play at this high level and win some big titles.”
Djokovic, who skipped the autumn Asian Tour, has won his last 17 matches since Wimbledon, where he lost the final to Carlos Alcaraz.
The 36-year-old completed the Roland Garros/Paris-Bercy title sweep for the second time (2021).
