“Greatest Male Tennis Player”: Patrick McEnroe, NBA Star and Others Hail Novak Djokovic’s Historic Win at Paris Masters 2021

World No.1 Novak Djokovic cliched a record-breaking 37th Masters 1000 title at the 2021 Paris Masters. Djokovic defeated Daniil Medvedev 4-6, 6-3 6-3 in the final and avenged his recent US Open loss to the Russian.

After losing the opening set, Djokovic broke Medvedev’s service game early in the second set to push the match into the decider. In the third set, the Serbian raced to a 5-2 lead and eventually sealed the victory by hitting a blistering forehand.

Novak Djokovic creates history, yet again

The 20-time Grand Slam champion won a phenomenal 27 out of 36 net points and won 79% of the points of his first serve. It was Djokovic’s sixth win over Medvedev and he now leads their head-to-head meetings 6-4.

Following Djokovic’s victory, fans congratulated the Serbian on his historic achievement. NBA star Bogdan Bogdanovic sent his wishes to Djokovic on Twitter while Patrick McEnroe hailed Djokovic as the ‘greatest male tennis player ever’.

It’s been an outstanding week for the 34-year-old. Yesterday, after ousting Hubert Hurkacz in the semifinals, Djokovic assured himself of ending the season as the World No.1 for the seventh time in his career. He broke Pete Sampras’ record of finishing as the year-end No.1 six times.

He has finished as the year-end No.1 in seven of the last 11 seasons, which speaks volumes about his dominance over the past decade. He has attained the feat in 2011, 2012, 2014, 2015, 2018, 2020, and now in 2021.

Winning the Paris Masters titles makes Djokovic the leader on the list of most ATP Masters 1000 titles won. His arch-rival Rafael Nadal is second on the list with 36 Masters 1000 titles.

The 2021 season has arguably been Djokovic’s greatest season ever – having won three consecutive Grand Slam titles, overtaking Roger Federer’s record of most weeks spent as World No.1 and clinching a record-breaking 37th Masters 1000 title.

Up next, Djokovic will play at the ATP Nitto finals in Turin. He has won the season-ending championships five times in his career, with his last title coming in 2015. Last year, Medvedev won his maiden ATP Nitto Finals by defeating Dominic Thiem in the finals.

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