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Serbian reflects on 40th ATP Masters 1000 title
Novak Djokovic’s champion’s mentality was shown on Sunday after he won the Rolex Paris Masters. As happy as the Serbian was to claim his record-extending seventh title at the season’s ATP Masters 1000 event, he was clearly hungry for more.

“It's great, but it's already behind me. I'm very of course proud of the achievement but I'm already turning the next page. This is, fortunately or unfortunately, the way it works for me, and the way I think is the correct, so to say, mentality moving forward,” Djokovic said. “Because while I'm still active, I still want to win more and I still want to play at the highest level. Obviously Grand Slams and Masters events are the most valuable tournaments in our sport.

“So considering the circumstances I had in the last seven days, this win has more weight and more value and it's extra sweet, particularly at this stage of my career. I don't even know in which stage of my career I am anymore, but I think that every win in a big tournament, maybe the value is double nowadays.”


The 36-year-old won three consecutive three-setters to make the championship match, which he won against former World No. 3 Grigor Dimitrov in straight sets. The 40-time Masters 1000 champion was honest about how difficult it was to capture the trophy.

“A very challenging week. I think also off the court, dealing with the stomach virus that really took a lot of energy out of me, but somehow I managed to, I guess, find this extra energy when it was most needed, particularly in the days of Thursday, Friday, and Saturday, where I was probably closer to losing these matches than winning,” Djokovic said. “So considering what happened in the last six, seven days, this win is definitely one of the most special wins in the Masters 1000 category.”

Djokovic explained that he is “feeling great” physically after working hard since his last appearance, which came in Davis Cup the week after he won the US Open.

“But it was this virus that was really the biggest opposition this week in terms of me feeling well on the court. That was something that is kind of outstanding, that is not something that I'm normally encountering,” Djokovic said. “So I had to deal with that along with my team. There was obviously 24 hours really focused on trying to get me recovered and prepared for the next match. It's amazing that I was able to feel this way today, considering I had three days in a row, three matches of three hours, three-setters. I'm really happy for that.”


Despite not competing for a month and a half entering the tournament and the struggles he went through tournament, Djokovic once again found a way to emerge victorious. He has now won 18 consecutive matches and is 51-5 this season, according to Infosys ATP Stats.

“People expect you to always be at your best, to be always reaching the finals, I mean in my case. I'm glad that that's the case, that people kind of see me as one of the main favourites in every single tournament. But at the same time, we are also human beings that have to deal with different things off the court, whether it's health-wise, emotions, or whatever is happening in your private life,” Djokovic said. “So all of it has an effect on how you feel on the court and how you perform. Yeah, I tried to do my very best this week and I think I have done under the circumstances. Did I play my best tennis? I don't think I played my best tennis.

“In every match actually, my level was not to the level that I normally would play the biggest tournaments. But it's one of those weeks where you just have to accept the circumstances and fight to survive another day.”

Djokovic did more than survive — he captured his 97th tour-level title. Now he will prepare for the Nitto ATP Finals, where he is a six-time champion. The Serbian is tied for the most trophies in tournament history with Roger Federer.

“I had the perfect score in Torino last year, five out of five matches. I like playing there. I think I connect well with the Italian crowd,” Djokovic said. “I'm going there with good feelings, with a lot of confidence. I haven't lost a match since Wimbledon final, so I'm really excited to hopefully finish off the season on a high.”

Novak Djokovic hits 57 per cent of his groundstrokes from the backhand side en route to victory over Grigor Dimitrov in the Paris final.

Brain Game analyses Djokovic's win against Dimitrov
The backhand built an impenetrable brick wall.

Novak Djokovic defeated Grigor Dimitrov 6-4, 6-3 in the final of the Rolex Paris Masters on Sunday by relying heavily on his backhand to control the flow of points from the back of the court.

This was a defensive, old-school approach from Djokovic, who only went to the net five times and hit just 15 run-around forehands standing in the Ad court for the match. Djokovic invested heavily in his backhand, and after a rocky start, it paid dividends with his 40th ATP Masters 1000 crown.

Djokovic committed six errors in his first 13 backhand groundstrokes (excluding returns & volleys), as Dimitrov successfully attacked it with his slice backhands and aggressive run-around forehands. Djokovic said post-match that he thought both players were tight at the beginning of the match, but it was the Serbian who settled down the quickest.

Djokovic made his last 29 backhands of the opening set and cranked up the pressure on Dimitrov to basically have to hit winners to collect points. Overall, Djokovic hit more backhands than forehands for the match as he was content to build points through the Ad court and force Dimitrov to red line his game to win baseline exchanges.

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DJOKOVIC GROUNDSTROKES

Total Shots
Backhands = 57% (101)
Forehands = 43% (76)

Winners
Backhands = 3 winners
Forehand = 2 winners

Errors
Backhands = 15
Forehands = 9

Forcing Opponent Errors
Backhands = 11 (5 forehand/4 backhand)
Forehands = 9 (8 forehand/1 backhand)


Djokovic’s master plan was to trade as many backhand blows as necessary through the Ad court to wear down Dimitrov’s one-hander. Djokovic hit a sizable 73 per cent of his backhands cross court, 10 per cent through the middle and just 17 percent down the line. Dimitrov, by comparison, only hit 60 per cent of his backhands cross court, 23 per cent through the middle and 17 per cent down the line.

Dimitrov may very well have felt comfortable rallying to Djokovic’s backhand through the Ad court, but it had the flow-on effect of reducing the number of aggressive forehands he could find. Dimitrov hit just 52 per cent forehands for the match (101 forehands/93 backhands), which was never going to get the job done.

Djokovic turned it into a defensive battle by primarily playing backhand to backhand and also by playing from deeper in the court. Dimitrov simply couldn’t find a way to go through, over, or around Djokovic’s proverbial brick-wall backhand.

RALLY HIT POINT COMPARISON

Shots Hit Inside The Baseline
Djokovic = 14%
Dimitrov = 19%

Shots Hit Within Two Metres Of The Baseline
Djokovic = 52%
Dimitrov = 67%

Shots Hit Past Two Metres
Djokovic = 34%
Dimitrov = 14%

The telling statistic is that Dimitrov could not take advantage of Djokovic’s very deep court position, where he contacted the ball over a third of the time (34%) past two metres behind the baseline. Dimitrov won a commendable seven of 10 points at the net, which begs the question: Why didn’t he go to the net twice or three times that amount to keep harvesting the superior winning percentage at the front of the court?

Dimitrov’s baseline woes also flowed over to his return game. Dimitrov only won six of 32 (19%) return points against Djokovic’s first serve and five of 16 (31%) against the Serbian’s second serve. Dimitrov failed to put a sizable 50 per cent of Djokovic’s first serves back in the court and failed to see a single break point for the match.

Djokovic often wins matches by bossing opponents to all points of the court. In this match, he went into lockdown mode by betting big on his backhand.

Serbian chasing record-breaking seventh crown
At the close of yet another historic season, Novak Djokovic enters the Nitto ATP Finals with an eye on breaking another record.

The Serbian won three Grand Slams this season, equalling Rafael Nadal's all-time best 22 men's major singles titles at the Australian Open and then storming past that mark with further triumphs at Roland Garros and the US Open. He also extended his own ATP Masters 1000 record by winning his 39th and 40th titles at that level in Cincinnati and Paris.

He will add to two more precious records — finishing as year-end No. 1 for an eighth time and passing 400 weeks at No. 1 in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings — if he can hold onto the top spot in Turin.

But that's not all that's on the line for the Serbian at the season finale. If he can repeat as champion, Djokovic will win his seventh Nitto ATP Finals crown and break a tie with Roger Federer for most at the prestigious year-end event.

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Djokovic is well aware of the records he continues to chase and break. But while acknowledging the history, he remains grounded in the present.

"I try to be a good student of the game and keep track with the numbers, but at the same time, I also want to be able to just direct my attention to the next challenge," he said after beating Grigor Dimitrov to win the Rolex Paris Masters. "As long as I'm an active player, I guess that's going to be the mentality I will nurture."


The next challenge will require every bit of the Serbian's attention as he competes alongside the greatest champions of the 2023 ATP Tour season. After battling through a stomach virus during his Paris title run, Djokovic said he was feeling better after the final and was eager to turn the page to Turin.

"Every match is going to be like finals of a big tournament, because you play a top-eight player," he said of the Nitto ATP Finals. "Every match carries a lot of [Pepperstone ATP Rankings] points, carries a lot of importance.

"It's a group-stage format, which we don't get to experience in any other tournament, so even if you lose a match or even two, in a round-robin system you can still go through semis. I had the perfect score in Torino last year, five [wins] out of five matches. I like playing there. I think I connect well with the Italian crowd. I'm going there with good feelings, with a lot of confidence. I haven't lost a match since the Wimbledon final, so I'm really excited to hopefully finish off the season on a high."

Following a narrow five-set defeat to Carlos Alcaraz at Wimbledon — a result that ultimately saw him fall one win short of a calendar-year Grand Slam — Djokovic has won 18 straight matches and three titles (Cincinnati, US Open, Paris). All of those matches came on hard courts, as did his title runs to start the season in Adelaide and at the Australian Open.

He will enter Turin with a hard-court record of 33-1 on the season, his lone defeat coming to Daniil Medvedev in the Dubai semis. At 51-5 on the year, Djokovic leads the ATP Tour with a 91% win rate. At the close of a brilliant season, he now turns his attention to picking up five more victories in Turin.

"My goal is to end up the season on the high note," he said in an ominous warning to his fellow competitors. "On the highest note possible."

Serbian leads Green Group in Turin
Novak Djokovic has arrived in Turin and is ready to chase the record books at this year's Nitto ATP Finals.

The Serbian star, who trained on Thursday at the Pala Alpitour, headlines the Green Group at the Pala Alpitour. He will compete against home favourite Jannik Sinner, Stefanos Tsitsipas and Holger Rune at the season finale.

There is a lot at stake for Djokovic, who is currently tied with Roger Federer for the most titles in tournament history with six. One more and the 36-year-old would stand alone with the most trophies in event history.

<a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/players/nova ... iew'>Novak Djokovic</a>
Photo Credit: Andrew Eichenholz/ATP Tour
Djokovic is also close to securing his record-extending eighth ATP Year-End No. 1 presented by Pepperstone honour. Two years ago he broke a tie with Pete Sampras (6) for the most year-end No. 1 finishes in history.

Should he accomplish the feat again this year, the week after the Nitto ATP Finals Djokovic would become the first player in Pepperstone ATP Rankings history to reach 400 weeks at World No. 1. The only other man to hit the 300-weeks mark is Federer (310).

Djokovic is trying to win his 98th tour-level title, which would bring him to within two triumphs of joining Jimmy Connors (109) and Federer (103) as the only players on record to earn 100 tour-level crowns.

The World No. 1 begins his 2023 Nitto ATP Finals campaign on Sunday evening against Holger Rune in a rematch of their recent Rolex Paris Masters quarter-final.

Serbian is the top seed in Turin
Novak Djokovic has his sights set on one major goal at the Nitto ATP Finals: finishing as ATP Year-End No. 1 presented by Pepperstone for the record-extending eighth time.

“For me, the biggest goal right now is to end the season as the No. 1 player in the world, so hopefully I can clinch it. I need one win, so hopefully that happens,” Djokovic told ATP Media on Friday in Turin. “And then of course, I would love to win the tournament as well. But that's the goal and then let's see what happens afterwards.”

Should Djokovic win one match or Carlos Alcaraz lose one match at the season finale, the Serbian will earn the supreme honour in the sport. He last finished year-end No. 1 in 2021.

Djokovic will have an opportunity to control his own fate on Sunday evening when he begins his tournament against Holger Rune. The pair played just one week ago in the Rolex Paris Masters, where Djokovic won the quarter-final in nearly three hours of scintillating tennis.

“Holger has his debut in the [Nitto ATP] Finals. Obviously, along with [Carlos] Alcaraz, they are the same generation, one of the leaders of the Next Gen and probably one of the players that will carry the tennis in the decade to come,” Djokovic said. “We’re going to see a lot of him I'm sure in the future. He's got Boris Becker, the legend of the game in his corner now and he's been improving himself as well. Every time we face each other, it's a close match, so I'll probably have to expect that one again.”


The 36-year-old will take confidence knowing he played well at the Pala Alpitour one year ago, when he lifted the Nitto ATP Finals trophy at the venue for the first time.

“I had the perfect score. Most of my matches, four of five I won straight sets. This is the third time we are here in Torino, there are I think a couple hundred metres, almost 300 metres [of] altitude, and maybe the fans cannot feel it, but we can feel it on the court,” Djokovic said. “The ball flies through the air, the conditions are played different. So it takes some days to really adjust. But it's lovely. Lovely arena, great to be part of this event again and it's a great attendance.

“People are really passionate about tennis and sport in general in Italy, with the Roma Internazionali tournament and here in Torino now having a tradition of Nitto [ATP] Finals played here in the city. It's great. I'm really looking forward and I'm excited to perform.”

Djokovic is driven by more than just tangible accomplishments, he explained.

“I also love competing, I love the sport. That's my greatest motivation really, because I've made a lot of records, I've broken a lot of records and it's great,” Djokovic said. “But even if I leave professional tennis now and reflect on everything I've done, I can be extremely, extremely satisfied. So I don't have a pressure to keep on competing, but I still have desire and still have the level.

“I’m playing at a very high level, so records are there obviously as a huge inspiration as well, no doubt, and history of the sport. I still want to create my own history and history of tennis and see how far I can go.”

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That pursuit will begin this week in Turin, where the 36-year-old leads Green Group alongside Jannik Sinner, Stefanos Tsitsipas and Rune. He cherishes the opportunity to compete against the best players in the world.

“It's great. I'm again, honoured to be part of this event. It's the pinnacle of ATP Tour. Other than Slams, this is the biggest tournament we have in the sport. And the best eight players in the world worked very hard the entire year. All the players who qualify for this event, it's a great privilege,” Djokovic said. “It's the only tournament that really has the group format. So even if you lose a match or two, you can still qualify for the semis. So I think that removes a little bit of pressure of losing a match.

"But still, you need to be at your best every single match because every single match is played at the quality of probably finals of the Masters 1000 events.”