Novak Djokovic has been sensational this season. The 36-year-old tennis star has only lost once since winning Roland Garros after defeating Stefanos Tsitsipas in the final. The Serbian also won his 24th Grand Slam title in New York in September and became the men’s tennis player with the highest number of major titles.
After 50 days away from the court, Novak Djokovic returned to the Rolex Paris Masters and produced a brilliant and organized display while winning 7th Paris trophy of his career amid suffering from a stomach virus.
Novak Djokovic battles beyond court in Paris
Novak Djokovic struggled to get past Tallon Griekspoor in the Round of 16 of the Paris Masters, and he later admitted to a journalist that he struggled throughout the game with a stomach virus. However, it was not a similar story against Holger Rune, Andrey Rublev and Grigor Dimitrov, as the Serbian star turned unstoppable to win his 40th ATP Masters 1000 and take his tally to 97 tour-level titles.
Djokovic first confirmed that he was feeling under the weather after his three-set win over Tallon Griekspoor: “It’s hard to have a clear mind when you spend more time on the toilet seat than on the court the last three days.”
He added, “Just the energy levels were very low the last few days and I’m taking it day by day. Today is probably the worst day so I’m just hoping that tomorrow will be better, that the curve will start going in the right direction for me.”
Dimitrov reflects on eemotional roller coaster after Djokovic loss
Meanwhile, Grigor Dimitrov couldn’t hold back his disappointment after losing to Novak Djokovic 6-4, 6-3 at the Rolex Paris Masters. The Bulgarian was at the courtside in tears, as he was hoping that the Paris Masters title would be his first ATP trophy in six years. Dimitrov was in brilliant form at the Paris Masters, as he defeated Daniil Medvedev and Stefanos Tsitsipas, two Top 10 players, in one week.
“It’s difficult to explain emotions, I think,” said Dimitrov after falling to a defeat at the ATP Masters 1000 event in the French capital. “You want it. It’s tough when it doesn’t happen. Only I know, in a way, without feeling sorry for myself, what I’ve gone through the past months on and off the court.”
“Those are happy tears. I don’t want to have them as something negative. I’m human, after all. At the end of the day, I think just the buildup, not only of the last two weeks, the last months of hard work and the big trip in China, everything has been kind of snowballing day after day, match after match.”
“Of course, in the end I was so close to making something that I wanted to do for such a long time,” said Dimitrov who racked up 41 tour-level wins this year, his highest tally since 2017. “I don’t want to have this as a goal, just to win the tournament, but it was just more of my mental and physical way that I was dealing with and through these past months. I’m not ashamed of [the tears]. It just happened. I’m sad. Of course, I’m sad that I lost. It’s never fun when you lose in a final. I think for me now, I have some time to reflect and move on.”
Grigor Dimitrov would be hoping that he carries his form into 2024 and perhaps breaks his trophy-losing streak, while Novak Djokovic would head to the ATP Finals in Turin with a longing to defend the title.
