Nole continues domination in Paris in the best season of his career.
In a remarkable Sunday for Novak Djokovic, the Serb claimed a record fourth BNP Paribas Masters crown and became the first player to win six ATP Masters 1000 trophies in a single season.
The world no.1 defeated second seed Andy Murray 6-2, 6-4 in the final and sealed his 26th Masters 1000 title in one hour and 32 minutes, improving to an astonishing 27-4 W/L record against Top 10 opponents this year.
Novak snatched the early initiative in the 30th meeting between the two (21-9 H2H record). He broke twice in opening set, closing it out in convincing fashion after 42 minutes of play.
The 28-year-old Belgrade native broke for 2-1 in the second set, but Murray broke back immediately, capitalising on a momentary lapse in concentration from the top seed. Novak put Andy under pressure again in the seventh game and claimed the decisive break.
“There was couple of games in the second set where Andy started turning things around, so things could have gone different way as they did yesterday against Wawrinka at same stage,” said Djokovic. “But I managed to stay tough. It was, all in all, the best performance of the week, and it came at the right time. I am very proud and very happy to win this title again.”
Match statistics: aces (2-4), double faults (0-2), winners (10-20), unforced errors (12-34), total points won (66-49).
Victory for Novak secured his 58th career singles title, 10th in a spectacular 2015.
Djokovic rode on his blazing form throughout the tournament, also recording triumphs over Thomaz Bellucci, Gilles Simon, Tomas Berdych and Stan Wawrinka.
Novak will next travel to London to compete at the season finale, the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals, taking place at The O2 Arena (November 15 – 22).
The singles field for the 2015 edition is set. Nole will be joined by Andy Murray, Roger Federer, Stan Wawrinka, Rafael Nadal, Tomas Berdych, David Ferrer and Kei Nishikori.
The three-time defending champion will be making his ninth appearance at the world’s biggest indoor tournament. The draw takes place on Thursday evening at London City Hall.
Photo: Getty Images
