3:03 p.m
Difficult semi-finals
In the two semi-finals, both Djokovic and Dimitrov struggled and played extremely close three-set matches. Dimitrov won against Zverev’s defeater Tsitsipas 6:3, 6:7 (1:7), 7:6 (7:3), Djokovic defeated Rublev 5:7, 7:6 (7:3), 7: 5.
14:59
Impressive winning streak
At the advanced tennis age of 36, Novak Djokovic no longer attends every tournament, but rather marks the highlights in his calendar. Since losing the Wimbledon final against the currently somewhat out-of-form shooting star Carlos Alcaraz, Djokovic has only competed in three tournaments: at the Cincinnati Masters, at the US Open and now in Paris. He played 16 matches and won all of them, an impressive achievement! Will the series continue today?
14:54
ATP Finals
The ATP Finals in Turin are also just around the corner, and the participants have now been determined. While Dimitrov will miss the year-end tournament even if he wins the tournament and cannot repeat the double success from 2017, Djokovic, as world number one, will be the hunted man. With a title in Paris, Djokovic would of course send another message to the competition. In addition to him and Alcaraz, Medvedev, Sinner, Rublev, Tsitsipas and, as the last two athletes, Rune and Zverev also qualified.
2:45 p.m
Does the Djoker complete the 40?
Dimitrov’s opponent couldn’t be greater. Novak Djokovic is reaching for his 40th Masters title; the Serb is clearly in first place in the all-time ranking of Masters tournament victories with currently 39. Rafael Nadal has won 36 ATP1000 titles, Roger Federer 28. Will Djokovic break the 40 mark today?
14:41
First title since 2017?
The Bulgarian was never able to build on this strong period. Dimitrov hasn’t had a chance at any title since February 2018 and hadn’t appeared in a final on the tour until May of this year. In Geneva he lost the final in the ATP250 category against Nicolás Jarry. Now he has his second chance to win a title this year – just on a completely different level than in Geneva.
2:38 p.m
Second spring
Grigor Dimitrov is currently experiencing a second spring in his career. The Bulgarian recently played good tennis and is now surprisingly in the final of a Masters tournament. If the outsider actually pulls off the coup today, it would be the second Masters title in Dimitrov’s long career. In 2017 he won a Masters tournament for the only time in Cincinnati and crowned his best career phase a few weeks later by winning the ATP Finals and reaching his career high of third place in the world rankings.
2:32 p.m
Welcome
Good day and welcome to the last Masters final of the year! At around 3 p.m. world number one Novak Djokovic and his Bulgarian challenger Grigor Dimitrov will meet in Paris-Bercy.