Novak Djokovic boosted his chances of finishing the season as world No1 when he became the first player to retain his Paris Masters title with a 6-2, 6-3 win over big-serving Canadian Milos Raonic in the final on Sunday.
The top-seeded Serb, who did not drop a set in Bercy to clinch his third title, read perfectly the seventh-seeded Raonic’s serve to prevail in a one-sided encounter.
Djokovic’s 600th career win extended his unbeaten indoors run to 27 and gave him his 20th Masters title while Raonic – who will have to do more than serve big if he is to ascend the rankings – lost his second final at Masters level in as many attempts.
Both players will be taking part in the ATP World Tour Finals from 9-16 November in London, where Djokovic will be favourite to secure the world No1 spot for 2014 after he more than doubled his lead over second-ranked Roger Federer.
If he plays at the O2 like he has been playing in Paris, the Serb will finish the year on top of the world rankings for the third time.
Djokovic stole his opponent’s first service game as he raced to a 3-0 lead, benefiting from Raonic’s early nerves. The Canadian, who lost in the Montreal Masters final last year, saved three more break points in the sixth game, two of them with aces. In the following game, Djokovic fell 0-40 down on his serve but Raonic lacked accuracy to convert the break points.
The seven-times grand slam champion called for a trainer to massage his right leg at change of ends but the problem did not seem to bother him as he returned to the court to wrap the opening set on Raonic’s serve after two awful unforced errors by the Canadian.
Things got from bad to worse for Raonic, who was limited to nine aces after bombing down 21 against Federer in the quarter-finals, as he produced a double fault to go 2-0 down against the top seed.
The Serb comfortably held serve and set up two match points in the eighth game, only for Raonic to save them with a service winner and a forehand passing shot. Djokovic, however, secured his sixth title of the season with a forehand down the line winner on his third match point in the following game.
After his wife Jelena gave birth to the couple’s first child Stefan on the eve of the Paris tournament, Djokovic celebrated his victory by sucking his thumb.
“I can’t be more than grateful than I am at this moment and happier at this stage of my life,” he said.
“I became a dad and got married in July this year. I won Wimbledon and I’m still the number one so this is definitely the best time of my life. I’m trying to savour every moment of it. I’m going to go back home and see my boy for a few days and then come to the O2.
“Congratulations to Milos, I’m very happy for him that he qualified for London but today I played the best tennis I’ve played all week. It’s not easy against a player with such a big serve but I played an exceptional match and I’m very happy to win this trophy.”
