Novak Djokovic won a record 37th Masters title by avenging his US Open final defeat against Russian Daniil Medvedev
Novak Djokovic won a record 37th Masters title on Sunday, avenging his loss to Russian Daniil Medvedev in the US Open final with a 4-6, 6-3, 6-3 victory at the Paris Masters.
Djokovic now has one more Masters trophy than fellow 20-time Grand Slam winner Rafael Nadal, and nine more than Roger Federer, the other tennis great with 20 majors. The victory was also the sixth in a row for the Paris Masters, which set a new record.
The Serbian, who is certain to win the year-end world No. 1 spot for a record eighth time, had some time to acclimate to the world No. 2’s tough defense, but once he did, he was unstoppable.
Djokovic was attempting to avoid going without a Masters title for the first time since 2017 and maintained his composure throughout the match against the holder.
When Djokovic fired a brilliant forehand winner down the line on the first match point, Medvedev was overwhelmed and bowed out of the match.
Medvedev was hoping to force Djokovic into a backhand-to-backhand duel two months after denying him a record-breaking 21st Grand Slam men’s singles title when he beat him at Flushing Meadows.
Medvedev broke in the first game as Djokovic committed a flurry of unforced errors, putting him on the back foot.
With a superb sliced backhand to the net, the world No. 1 tied the score at 2-2, but Medvedev stole his serve again to go ahead 4-3.
When Djokovic returned long, the Russian held serve twice more to take the opening set.
The Serbian, on the other hand, turned the tables in the second set, winning 3-1 with a backhand into the net by Medvedev.
Djokovic saved a breakpoint at 5-3 with a serve and volley, and then fended off a second with a powerful serve. With a brilliant block at the net, Medvedev brought up the third set, but the top seed’s first serve saved the day once more.
With an ace on his third set point, Djokovic forced the match into a decider. He broke for 3-2 on Medvedev’s three unforced errors and then stole his opponent’s serve for a 5-2 lead.
Djokovic allowed Medvedev too much space while serving for the match, and the Russian broke back, but his tank was empty, and he surrendered on his serve in the following game.
Medvedev said that a spectator in the audience was bothering him by making too much noise.
“I got mad because the crucial, crucial moment, 5-2 for him, double break, even if I manage to get the break back, we all know that against Novak it’s tough to actually come back from this score,” he told a news conference.
“I got mad because it was not nice, and it was done on purpose. Some of the spectators were just into the match and you could feel it. You’re getting ready for service, they were like, Allez, Novak or Allez, Daniil. But you could feel it was like they are just trying not to be in the game, and you wait.
“This one was done, when I did the toss already, it was done by a Serbian spectator … I hope he doesn’t watch tennis anymore.”