Novak Djokovic wins seventh time in Paris and apologizes to crying opponent

World number 1 Novak Djokovic has won the Masters 1000 tournament in Paris. After his victory in the final, Djokovic worried about his opponent, the Bulgarian Dimitrov. He received a hug when he could not hold back his tears and afterwards Djokovic also supported him in his victory speech.

The 36-year-old Serbian won in the final in two sets 6-4 and 6-3 against the 32-year-old Bulgarian Grigor Dimitrov (ATP 17). But Djokovic was great in his victory.

Afterwards, the Serbian had words of comfort and encouragement for his opponent, who could not hold back his tears after the defeat.

“Grigor, sorry for today’s outcome. It’s never easy to lose in a final,” said the world number one. “I want to encourage you to stay strong and keep going. The tennis you brought was the best I have seen you play in the past week and the past few months. So keep going.”

Djokovic went 3-3 in the first set due to Dimitrov’s setup. In the second set, the Serb stole his opponent’s service game at 2-2, only to repeat that again at 5-3. The match lasted 1 hour and 39 minutes.

It is the seventh overall victory for Djokovic in Paris. He was already the best in the French capital in 2009, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2019 and 2021. He now has 97 ATP titles, including 40 Masters 1000 trophies, to his name.

Dimitrov won eight ATP tournaments in his career. The last overall victory dates back to 2017. Then he defeated David Goffin in the final of the ATP Finals.