Novak Djokovic beats Bulgarian Grigor Dimitrov to win 40th Masters title

PARIS: World number one Novak Djokovic cruised to a record-extending seventh Paris Masters title on Sunday when the top-seeded Serbian outclassed Bulgarian Grigor Dimitrov 6-4 6-3 in the final.

In a clash featuring the two oldest players in the world’s 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.

The unseeded Dimitrov’s 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 ATP Masters 1000 title.

Victory was sealed when Dimitrov sent a backhand wide, extended Djokovic’s winning run to 18 matches since his defeat by Carlos Alcaraz in the Wimbledon title clash in July.

"It's incredible to be able to win it after quite challenging circumstances this week," said Djokovic.

"I basically came back from the brink of losing three matches in a row so I'm very proud of this one considering what I've been through this week."

Playing in his 58th Masters final, the Serb was hardly challenged by Bulgarian Dimitrov, ranked 17th in the world, who was playing in only his second Masters final.

Djokovic has been dominant on hard courts this season, winning 33 matches and only losing once.

It was his 97th career title and 6th this season, tied for the most with Carlos Alcaraz.

With his latest title, Djokovic has all but solidified his eighth Year-End No. 1 ranking. Pete Sampras ranks second with six.

Next up for Djokovic will be the season-ending ATP Tour Finals in Turin, where he will be heavy favourite to lift a record-breaking seventh title and be confirmed as the year-end number one player in the world for a record-extending eighth time. Agencies

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