Paris // Novak Djokovic won an unprecedented sixth Masters title of the year when he defeated Andy Murray 6-2, 6-4 in the French capital to put the finishing touches to one of the greatest years in tennis history.
The top seed won the series-closing title for an unprecedented third straight year, and a fourth in all, as he dominated the British second seed from start to finish in 1 hour, 32 mins.
The win brought Djokovic’s final season win-loss record to a stunning 78-5 and took his unbeaten run, stretching back to August 23, to 22 matches.
He now goes to the World Tour Finals at London as favourite, having won three out of four grand slams and six of nine Masters 1000 series titles in 2015.
The only grand slam final he lost was the last time he played in Paris, at the French Open in June, when he was beaten in four sets by Stan Wawrinka.
“I think I was very solid from the very first point, very similar to a performance I have had against him in Shanghai in terms of intensity and strength in the shots and really protecting the baseline, trying to be the one that dictates the play,” said Djokovic, the world No 1.
““There was couple of games in the second set where he started turning things around ... but I managed to stay tough, save my service game on 3-2, and I think that after that point I felt that I had a good chance to finish off the match in straight sets.”
Djokovic stamped his authority on the match from the start, winning eight straight points from the end of the first game to move clear and pile the pressure on Murray, who had lost nine out of the past 10 matches between the two.
Murray looked increasingly tight and edgy, electing to play a series of drop shots to avoid a baseline battle with Djokovic.
Another dropped serve by Murray in the seventh game saw the Serb win the set 6-2 in 42 minutes.
When a rampant Djokovic broke again in the third game of the second set it looked all over, but out of the blue Murray broke to love to revive his hopes.
Playing for the first time in the Paris final, the Scot moved 3-2 up and had pressure on Djokovic’s next serve.
But as he has done all year, the Serb dug deep to level and then break again in the following game as Murray faltered.
Two games later it was all over, Murray stabbing a backhand wide as Djokovic raised his arms in triumph. At just 28, it was his 26th Masters Series title, just one shy of Rafael Nadal in first.
Murray made it clear before Paris that his priority for the year was the Davis Cup final against Belgium in Ghent this month when he will try to win the trophy for Britain for the first time since 1936.
“It was a tough one,” he said. “I would have liked to have done better, but, I mean, getting to the finals of a Masters Series is good.
“It’s not like it’s a bad result, but I would like to have done better today.”
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