Seventh triumph in Paris-Bercy
Powerless Novak Djokovic hits enough shots over the net
November 5th, 2023, 6:02 p.m
Novak Djokovic won the tournament in Paris-Bercy. The 24-time Grand Slam tournament winner from Serbia won the final against Bulgarian Grigor Dimitrow 6:4, 6:3 with little difficulty. Despite his elimination in the round of 16, Alexander Zverev can also celebrate.
The Serbian Grand Slam record winner Novak Djokovic has won the ATP Masters tournament in Paris-Bercy for the seventh time. In the final, the 36-year-old world number one and last year’s finalist defeated the Bulgarian Grigor Dimitrow, who was ranked 16 positions lower, 6:4, 6:3.
Djokovic, who lost to Dane Holger Rune in the Paris final last season, celebrated his sixth title win of the current season by winning the tournament in the French capital. His final opponent Dimitrow, who is four years younger, still has to wait for his first tournament victory since 2017.
“It’s incredible that I won this tournament after being on the verge of defeat in the three previous rounds. Grigor and I were increasingly running out of energy in the final, but somehow I still have one more shot to spare Net. Even though it was closer in the final than the result, I am very proud,” said Djokovic after the 97th tournament victory of his career. The Serb ended the year as number one in the world rankings for the eighth time, a record.
On the way to winning the final, Djokovic defeated the Russian Andrej Rublew 5:7, 7:6 (7:3), 7:5 in the semifinals. Dimitrov threw Greek world number six Stefanos Tsitsipas, who had eliminated Olympic champion Alexander Zverev in the round of 16, out of the tournament 6:3, 6:7 (1:7), 7:6 (7:3).
For Zverev, Paris still brought a happy ending despite his elimination in the round of the best 16. The result was enough for Germany’s top player to qualify for the ATP Finals, where Zverev can serve in Turin from November 12th.
Zverev benefited from his jump to the end of the year among the world’s eight best professionals in the final season in Piedmont, Italy, after days of dithering defeats by his direct competitors Hubert Hurkacz (Poland) and Alex de Minaur (Australia) in the quarter-finals. In the decisive “Race to Turin” Zverev takes seventh place and can no longer be pushed out of the field of participants.