In Bercy,
Little amusing riddle discussed between followers on Sunday at the Accor Arena. How much did Novak Djokovic need to place the cursor of his tennis know-how to win his seventh Parisian indoor title? Best shared answer: a small 60%, and again, this shows the sickening margin of the man over the rest of the plebs, Carlitos excepted. Let’s quickly move on to the final, one of the most boring we can remember, even if we admit that the year of Sock-Krajinovic, we had a swimming pool.
Dimitrov, who was coming off one of the best weeks of his career, quickly remembered why he had only beaten the Serb once, during the Visigoths. With his one-handed backhand dying in the fourth game, Grigor sometimes looked like Gasquet going to his execution against Nadal, to compare with another esthete of the genre. 6-4, 6-2 in 1h38, roll old age. “Playing a final against Novak is one of the biggest challenges in our sport,” sighed the Bulgarian. Even when he’s not in the best shape of his life physically, he still manages to make your life uncomfortable at decisive moments.”
“Even when he’s not in the shape of his life…”
At 36 years old, in a circuit known to be ultra-competitive, you can therefore win a 40th Masters 1000 between two golf practices to work on your backswing. No second degree here. Djoko, on an extended vacation since his victory at the US Open, explained what his daily life had consisted of in recent weeks upon arriving in Paris: “It’s really magnificent, to be with my family, especially with my wife and my children. . We used the free time to play a little golf and watch other sports. My level of golf is not yet that of my tennis, but it was time that was well spent, we can say.”
What is he doing in the City of Lights you ask me, when golfers know very well that you can never spend enough time with a driver in your hands if you really want to progress? Watching the rugby final at the SDF already, then following up with a costume party at the Châtelet to present a Golden Ball. Oh and play a little tennis again, too, one week before the Turin Masters, just to complete a 398th week as world number 1 before the pin.
Almost 400 weeks on the throne of world number 1
Arriving without his coach, without his family, and even without his agent, since he has just fired the pair who have always taken care of his interests, Djokovic still went through some turbulence, notably a devastating bout of gastro before his 2nd round. against the so-called Grikspoor, probably a teammate of the Jumbo Visma for the rest of the year. “I had three very difficult days, during which everything I ate went away very quickly [sourire]. I was trying to hydrate, but obviously I felt very weak, so I tried to get the energy from where it came from.”
The best player in the world, for example, was able to count on his bitchy love affairs with the Parisian public, faithful to his legend once again this year. He wanted to see the Serb lose? So we had to avoid booing him when he was broken by the said Grikspoor at 4-4 in the third set on Wednesday. Djoko, never stronger than when he has the flu, applauded ironically at Medvedev, before scoring the next 8 points. Then he made up his mind the next day, when the whole of Bercy was pushing behind Rune and whistling at him copiously during his traditional toilet break.
Our little finger tells us that the guy had also prepared his perfidious remark during the presentation of the trophy: “Paris is a city which has a lot of tennis culture, I am always proud to shine here. After the support… The relationship was special but thank you all the same for the energy you gave me this week.” If his swing improves as much as his French, watch out for the 2025 Ryder Cup.
A small tackle to the Parisian public
What else can we tell you? That with such influence over his work colleagues – how Rublev was able to lose his half on Saturday, we still wonder – Djokovic doesn’t see why he should give us the pleasure of retiring anytime soon. “How does it feel to others to see me win when I don’t play often? I don’t know, you’d have to ask them. I try to do my best, like everyone else. People expect me to always be in the final and this expectation is something that I like. Of course, I didn’t play my best tennis, well not at the level that normally allows you to win such a tough tournament, but these are the kind of weeks where you have to fight to survive until the next day.”
Three times on the verge of defeat at Bercy, the Djoker finds himself almost assured of finishing number one: all it takes is a victory in Turin (November 12-19), where the competition must already be sweating at night at the idea of meet the man at the 22 Grand Slams, undefeated since the Wimbledon final. By Sunday? “A little time with family to recharge the batteries.” And a small 18 hole for the road anyway?