Rolex Paris Masters: Novak Djokovic crushes Daniil Medvedev (4-6, 6-3, 6-3) and wins the tournament for the 6th time

And to think that it was his tournament of recovery … Two months after his failure in the final of the US Open which deprived him of a legendary Grand Slam calendar, Novak Djokovic signed his comeback by taking a resounding revenge on his Flushing’s executioner, Daniil Medvedev. Already assured of being the first player to finish a 7th season in world first place, the Serbian offered himself a sacred icing on the cake by overthrowing his Russian dolphin in the standings (4-6, 6-3, 6-3 ) after 2h15 of very high quality tennis on Sunday. This success allows him to continue to investigate records with a 6th title at Bercy, and above all a 37th crown in Masters 1000 ahead of Rafael Nadal’s 36.

Novak Djokovic had all the more merit on Sunday as the final did not start under the best auspices for him. Broken from the start, he conceded the first set 6-4, while he had returned to the score (3-3). Including the three lost innings in New York, he was therefore four in a row conceded against his Russian rival, who quickly deprived him of solutions when the tussle started from the baseline. The world number 1 therefore had to change his rifle and bet on aggressiveness to reverse the trend. A choice that pays off.

Dominated in the long sector, Djokovic has adapted his game

Or rather a decision assumed from the first points of the game, without always the expected success. And at the start of the second set, he raised the cursor again, dictating the rally as soon as he could with his forehand to try to impose a short die on Medvedev. His perseverance and daring ended up splitting the Russian’s shell: while he was leading 40/15 on his serve in the fourth game, the latter made several faults and gave in to the constant pressure put on the relaunch by Djokovic. (4-6, 4-1).

Medvedev did have three break points when the world number 1 served to win the second set at 5-3, but the Serbian ended up coming out after 12 minutes of fighting to reset the counters to zero . Tactically, he made the right choices, and in particular that of frequently and successfully performing a slice-volley serve on the equal side. He thus perfectly exploited the very distant position of his rival on the restart: in all, Djokovic will have won 25 points out of 33 climbs to the net (76% success) in a best of three sets match, which should not be far from being a record for him.

25 points won at the net on 33 climbs: daring paid off

And in the last act, Djokovic persevered. Confidence helping, he also regained all his timing from the baseline, also competing in the long line that Medvedev clearly dominated in the first two sets. The Russian has, again, ended up giving up arms, and this while still leading 40/15 on his serve at 2-2 in the 3rd set. The world number 2 will also have ended up paying logically a too low percentage of first balls (58%), and which will not have brought him especially enough free points, because of the slowness of the surface.

Affected by the turn of events, Medvedev began to accumulate faults, especially on the forehand, which cost him the double break. And despite a final jump in the form of a first break, he still gave up his commitment to finish, simply overwhelmed by the offensive intentions of Djokovic, winner on forehand winner. Quite a symbol. By his own admission, he adjusted his tactics by analyzing his loss to Flushing. And he applied it perfectly on the court. The king is back.