Djokovic advances to 40th Masters 1000 in Paris after beating Dimitrov

number one in the world thus consolidating its leadership in the rankings In a tournament that was his favorite, the Masters 1000, where he lost in the final last year but collected the most wins.

36 year old Serbian returned after a break of almost two monthsHe showed that his form has not deteriorated a week before the start of the Masters, which brought together the best eight of the year in Turin, the tournament that closes the season, where he will be the favorite to win for the seventh time. second in a row.

“It’s been a complicated week and I’m glad everything ended well“said the Serb.

Djokovic looked much superior The Bulgarian, who returned to the Masters 1000 final after six years at the age of 32 In the last one, he beat two players in the top 10 on his way to the final; Russian Daniil Medvedev, who was third in the rankings, and Greek Stefanos Tsitsipas, who was sixth but dropped his level in the final.

Very subtle errors accumulate in forehand strokes, Dimitrov barely attacked the Serbian player, who dominated the exchanges more easily than in the previous three duelsin which he gave up a set in each.

It never gave the impression that Djokovic’s consecutive winning streak was in jeopardy; It currently marks 18 as we wait for the Torino match.

With Rafael Nadal The only citizen to heal his wounds Carlos Alcaraz He managed to beat him in his last 32 matches; It’s something he achieved in the thrilling Wimbledon final, the only final the world number one has lost, which prevented him from winning all the Grand Slams.

Djokovic added his sixth title of the year. With Alcaraz, he has the title of one more successful tennis player than the Russian Daniil Medvedev and gets his second Masters 1000 of the year after the tennis in Cincinatti, where he is equal with the Spaniard and the Muscovite.

At the same time Record 97th titleThe 36-year-old achieved this in his most selective season, when he decided to devote more time to his tackles in order to be more efficient.

The goal was achieved as the Serb achieved almost perfect numbers. Especially on the hard court in Dubai, where he lost only one of 33 duels against Medvedev.

Also in Belgrade gives a feeling of funHe enjoys the superiority of handling duels, even allowing himself to provoke the audience, very reactive under the roof of Paris, where he endures friction throughout the tournament.

The final was no exception, although the Bulgarian had to do less as he got into less trouble. Dimitrov did not have the magic of the previous duels, he was far from the level shown in the lead up to the last duel.

He gave up many points throughout the match, especially 16 with his forehand. Although he defended himself well with his elegant one-handed backhand, he could not shake the world number one who defeated him in the 16th match. The 2018 semi-final in the same tournament, in Paris, is his ceiling so far. Djokovic lost only once to Dimitrov at the 2013 Madrid Masters 1000.

The Bulgarian mourned the defeat, knowing that he could not reach the final level that he had dreamed of and threatened throughout that week and which would remain magical in his memory.