Novak Djokovic beat Grigor Dimitrov (6/4 6/3) to win the 2023 Rolex Paris Master on November 5.
Both players battled their way through the Bercy finals. Three sets thrillers made of tiebreaks and turnovers were their standards all week long – except for the final. Today, a first title in Paris never seemed like a possibility for Grigor Dimitrov. The trophy was destined to Novak Djokovic at the beginning (of the week).
I love you
The two finalists needed a few games to focus. Unforced errors piled up during the first couple of minutes. Novak Djokovic forced himself to move forward to energize his shots lacking impact. Grigor Dimitrov changed directions a lot to prevent his opponent from taking control of the rallies. The seventh game confirmed what we could expect of the match. The Serb tightened his game while his rival continued making mistakes. A good return game finished by an unforced error from Grigor Dimitrov gave the lead to Novak Djokovic. He confirmed his break with a love game. The first set was his.
The Bulgarian only won one his last eleven encounters against the world number one. The first set showed his difficulties when facing the US Open champion. Held back by his too many unforced errors, he wasn’t aggressive enough to force Novak Djokovic out of his favorite game patterns. Without more variety or panache, his fate seemed to be sealed in advance.
The Parisian crowd cheered on Grigor Dimitrov. The Djoker’s undisputed dominance wasn’t what they came for.
Neither do I
The second set was eerily similar to the first one. The servers won their games despite a few imperfections here and there. The seventeenth player of the world tried a new approach. He multiplied sliced backhands to slow down the rhythm of the rallies. His low trajectories forced Novak Djokovic to put more volume on his shots to lift the ball. The strategy worked but he lacked consistency. His too many unforced errors prevented him from worrying the Serb. The latter only needed a couple of fast-paced rallies to get a decisive break. When he hit the ball early and hard, Grigor Dimitrov didn’t have an answer. The last games of the final showed the world number one’s desire to finish quickly and the Bulgarian disarray.
Novak Djokovic is the Paris champion for a seventh time in his career. He won without having to play his best level of tennis. Consistency, precision, and lucidity during the most important points were enough today. Grigor Dimitrov’s crazy week comes to an end. He didn’t have the weapons nor the energy to take the Serb out of his comfort zone.
The Bercy spectators resigned themselves to cheering on their new champion. Between love and hatred, there is only one step. Novak Djokovic knows it:
“My relationship with the public this week was special [laughs]. Thank you because your energy [the public’s] enabled me to be here [holding the trophy]”.
Novak Djokovic – during his on-court interview
Marnie Abbou
