As the celebrations began for Novak Djokovic’s record-extending 40th Masters 1000 title in Paris last weekend, at the side of the Bercy Arena’s vast indoor courts Grigor Dimitrov buried his face in his towel and tried hard to hold off his tears.
His emotion was understandable. Dimitrov had been playing some of the best tennis of his career, picking off Daniil Medvedev and Stefanos Tsitsipas en route to his second Masters 1000 final. He gave everything and yet suffered the same fate he has so many times: a demoralising defeat by Djokovic.
There was a time when it might have been reasonable to suggest that players of Dimitrov’s generation, in the absence of being able to topple the big three, might just wait them out and succeed once they had retired. That has not happened. It is incredible how Djokovic continues to hold off younger rivals.
As another season comes to an end at the ATP Finals in Turin, the defining question is whether anyone can stop the 36-year-old Djokovic from securing a seventh title. Earlier this year, the answer was obvious. Carlos Alcaraz’s incredible triumph in the Wimbledon final could have signified a shift as the 20-year‑old Spaniard took the baton to begin his own dominant period.
Instead Djokovic has done what he always does, using setbacks to rebound stronger. He won the Cincinnati title, then his 24th grand slam at the US Open and then in Paris. He is on an 18-match winning streak having casually pieced together another sensational season with a 51-5 (91%) win-loss record, claiming six titles, and stands a win away from clinching the year-end No 1 ranking.
From the moment Djokovic emerged on the ATP Tour, he was charged with chasing down Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal. Yet having overtaken them statistically and clinched virtually every record, he can now play with more freedom as he looks to test what his own limits are. “I’m going for whatever I can go for,” he said.
When Alcaraz has reached the final rounds and faced Djokovic, he has been a worthy rival and the pair have already produced numerous classics. But while the Serb has been here many times and knows exactly how to maintain his level, the Spaniard has struggled with consistency and durability after a long season so early in his career.
Still, this is an elite field, all gunning for a big win. Jannik Sinner, the fourth seed, has come of age in the second half of the season, winning his first Masters 1000 and three other titles as he lived up to the hype that has followed him around for some time.
Holger Rune, the eighth seed, has shown that he relishes the challenge of facing Djokovic even though he has struggled since Wimbledon. .Tsitsipas is the 2019 ATP Finals champion and he has beaten Djokovic twice, but his progress also stagnated in the second half of this season.
In the second group, Alcaraz will look to re-establish his form on his ATP Finals debut and will face an immense test after drawing Medvedev, the third seed and his 2021 conqueror at Wimbledon. Andrey Rublev will try to engineer an appropriate finish to a season in which he won his first Masters 1000 title, in Monte Carlo, while Alexander Zverev’s status as the group’s only multiple winner of this event cannot be ignored. For those who escape the group, Djokovic will likely be waiting.
