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World number one Novak Djokovic cruised to a record-extending seventh Paris Masters title and became the first player to claim 40 Masters ATP 1000 titles when the top-seeded Serbian thumped Bulgarian Grigor Dimitrov 6-4 6-3 in the final on Sunday.<\/p>\n
Djokovic\u2019s sixth trophy this season helped him to extend his lead over the second-ranked Carlos Alcaraz in the race to the year-end number one spot and the 24-times Grand Slam champion will head to the ATP Finals primed to seal the deal.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s incredible to be able to win after quite challenging circumstances for me this week,\u201d Djokovic said. \u201cComing back from the brink of losing three matches in a row on Thursday, Friday and Saturday.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was close to losing those matches and somehow managed to find an extra gear when it was needed. Today, we both were quite tight at the beginning, and I could see that he was running out of gas a little bit.<\/p>\n
\u201cMyself as well but I managed to find an extra shot over the net. The match was closer than the scoreline indicates but another amazing win for me. I\u2019m very proud of this one.\u201d<\/p>\n
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Djokovic secured a straight sets victory in Paris <\/p>\n
In a clash featuring the two oldest players in the world\u2019s top 20, the 36-year-old Djokovic drew first blood, breaking the 17th-ranked Dimitrov for a 4-3 lead in the opening set, and he closed it out comfortably in 51 minutes.<\/p>\n
The unseeded Dimitrov\u2019s only victory over Djokovic in 12 previous meetings came a decade ago and although the 32-year-old put up more of a fight in the second set, he could not prevent Djokovic from taking his 40th Masters crown.<\/p>\n
It put him four Masters titles ahead of his nearest rival Rafa Nadal.<\/p>\n
Djokovic is three wins away from 100 Open Era titles, with only Jimmy Connors (109) and Roger Federer (103) above him.<\/p>\n
Victory was sealed when Dimitrov sent a backhand wide, extended Djokovic\u2019s winning run to 18 matches since his defeat by Alcaraz in the Wimbledon title clash in July, leaving him red hot for the season-ending ATP Finals starting on Nov. 12.<\/p>\n
Dimitrov sobbed into his towel after missing the opportunity to claim his first title in six years.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve been in these situations before many times… losing finals,\u201d said Djokovic, who stopped his on-court interview to give Dimitrov a hug.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve been blessed to of course win more finals than I\u2019ve lost. I really hope he\u2019ll continue to play at a high level. He\u2019s been playing some of his best tennis this week and I wish him all the best. I hope he can win big events.\u201d<\/p>\n