Two years ago, Novak Djokovic defeated the king of Roland Garros, Rafael Nadal, in the semi-finals, and then Stefanos Tsitsipas in the final for his second crown on the Paris clay.
He crowned a great year in the City of Light by winning the Masters in the iconic "Bercy" hall, and now he did it all again - after lifting the Musketeer Cup in June, the best tennis player in the world became the best on concrete in the capital of France for the seventh time in his career, because defeated Grigor Dimitrov 6:4, 6:4 in the final.
With that, the 36-year-old Serbian ace grabbed the jubilee, 40th cup at the Masters, and probably ensured that he will end the eighth year as the best on the ATP list.
Namely, in 2023, he won 9.945 points, 1.490 more than Carlos Alcaraz, and only one victory at the ATP Championship in Turin or Alcaraz's defeat is enough for him to stay on the throne. With that, he would also exceed the magical number of 400 weeks at the top of the best list...
From the beginning of the final, it was obvious that Djokovic was more ready to fight than the Bulgarian who was five years younger. In the opening games, the world number 1 made some uncharacteristic backhand mistakes, but as soon as he solved that problem, the break came immediately for 4:3. And there the first set was practically over, although in the last game Dimitrov reached the tie for the first time on Djokovic's serve, but that was all.
In the 2nd set, the 36-year-old from Belgrade broke for 3:2, had another chance for 5:2, but did not use it.
The next one is - a break, also a match point in the 9th game.
Bonus video:
