Novak Djokovic: 3 quick takeaways from his Rolex Paris Masters run

Novak Djokovic keeps cementing the fact that he is the greatest tennis player ever. He simply seems unbeatable. While players such as Carlos Alcaraz lost in the second round of the Rolex Paris Masters and then claimed illness was a reason for the loss, Novak Djokovic kept playing three-set high-stress matches and winning even though he was fighting a stomach ailment himself.

On Sunday in the final, Djokovic had to dispatch one of his friends on the ATP tour, Grigor Dimitrov, and he did so fairly easily 6-4 6-3. Djokovic never faced a break point while he broke Dimitrov three times. Dimitrov especially got crushed on his second serve as Djokovic took 17 of 31 possible points from the Bulgarian.

Djokovic finished with 6 aces and just one double fault. He looked as fresh as he had all tournament. Here are three quick takeaways from Novak Djokovic’s latest victorious run at a tournament.

Novak Djokovic will finish the year-end No. 1 again

While Djokovic still has to play at the Nitto ATP Finals, he has now likely put enough distance between him and Alcaraz that Alcaraz has nearly zero chance to overtake Djokovic at No. 1. Djokovic would have to lose often and early at the ATP Finals while Alcaraz sweeps through the tournament. Both of those are unlikely to happen.

Djokovic will finish as year-end No. 1 for the eighth time. No other player has more than six. This is probably just another record Djokovic has that no one will catch.

Djokovic might not be faster but he is playing smarter

The Serb simply knows when to exert maximum energy and when not to. Rarely does Djokovic feel overwhelmed. Even in tight matches earlier in the tournament, he never panicked. The one part of Djokovic’s game that is clearly better than anyone else ever is his ability to remain calm in high-stress moments and not let the importance of any moment overtake him.

He has now won his last 18 matches and 32 of his last 33. His win at the Rolex Paris Masters was his seventh at the tournament. He now has won three tournaments at least seven times (let that sink in for a moment), including the Australian Open.

The crowd in the final seemed to assume Djokovic was going to win

The French crowd during the tournament had been a bit rowdy with boisterous outbursts during many matches. The crowd was either tired or under the spell of Djokovic in the final because they remained calm. Thankfully as they were at times incredibly annoying during the run of the tournament.

Novak Djokovic now has a week off to prepare for the ATP Finals. Again, no matter what likely happens in the year-end final tourney, Djokovic will finish as the ATP No. 1.