If there was ever any doubt that Novak Djokovic would have the most-ever Masters 1000 titles, that doubt is now dead and buried after the Serb defeated Daniil Medvedev 4-6, 6-3, 6-3 at the Rolex Paris Masters to capture his record-setting 37th Masters 1000 crown.
Djokovic also locked in his spot at No. 1 in the ATP rankings, guaranteeing a season finish at the top of the leaderboard for the seventh time in his career, surpassing the great Pete Sampras for the most all-time.
Despite breaking records left, right, and centre over the weekend, Djokovic’s road to the Rolex Paris Masters finals wasn’t as easy as he made it seem. A couple of months ago, the World No. 1 saw his hopes of a calendar slam get crushed right in front of his eyes at the US Open, losing to Medvedev in the finals by a score of 6-4, 6-4, 6-4. Therefore, he decided to take an extended break and hoped to avenge the heartbreaking US Open loss at the final Masters event of the year in Paris.
In his opening match, Djokovic defeated Márton Fucsovics of Hungary in a shaky 6-2, 4-6, 6-3 match. He then put on a clinic over American Taylor Fritz and was given a walkover against Gaël Monfils to set up a clash with red-hot Hubert Hurkacz in the semi-finals. The Polish star – who reached a career-high No. 9 rank after his performance in Paris – would not extend his win streak past Djokovic, as the Serb claimed the victory in a third-set tiebreak, winning 3-6, 6-0, 7-6(5).
In the finals, Djokovic got off to a poor start. He lost his opening service game and committed 16 unforced errors in the first set. His opponent, Medvedev, had only four. Djokovic would drop the opening set but managed to quickly turn things around in the second. He broke Medvedev in the fourth game and saved three break points in the ninth game to level the match at 1-1. The World No. 1 then broke the Russian three times in the third set en route to winning his sixth Rolex Paris Masters title.
Djokovic will now have his eyes set on tying Roger Federer for the most Nitto ATP Finals titles at the Pala Alpitour arena in Turin, Italy.
