Novak Djokovic Beats Gael Monfils and Wins at Paris Masters Final

novak-djokovic-beats-gael-monfils-and-wins-at-paris-masters-final Tennis 2009 (Novak Djokovic Vs. Gael Monfils)- Novak Djokovic survived a stunning fightback from local favorite Gael Monfils to claim victory at the Paris Masters 6-2 5-7 7-6 (7-3) on Sunday.

Novak Djokovic Serb took the first set easily, winning 82 percent of the time on his first serve and 88 percent on his second serve. The 22-year-old seemed set for a quick victory as he led a set and 3-0. Instead, Gael Monfils won the next three games, as he attacked the Novak Djokovic forehand and forced the Serb into making mistakes. With play back on serve, Gael Monfils broke for a 6-5 lead as he hit a forehand return straight down the line into the corner.

With the crowd loudly cheering after every point, Monfils converted his first set point as Djokovic dumped a backhand return into the net, according to bloomberg.

The second set’s script was similar at first, another unforced error from Gael Monfils handing Novak Djokovic a 2-0 lead, and a crushing win looked on the cards but the Serb then dropped his guard, enabling his opponent to find his way back into the match.

The Frenchman seized his chance by hitting a return winner to manage the telling break in the 11th set and serve for the set, which he took with a service winner.

Gael Monfils, playing his first final in a Masters 1000 event, then staged his remarkable comeback in the third set under roars of appreciation from the crowd but was left still chasing his third career title.

“It was incredibly tough,” said Novak Djokovic. “Winning back-to-back titles at this level is a huge achievement for me, and adding to that, beating the world number one and number two.

“I really feel that I’m in great form right now.

“The support of the crowd was probably one of the crucial things of today’s match in his favour, so that makes my success even bigger.”

“He played very well at first and there wasn’t much I could do but I kept believing in myself and really fought for it,” said Gael Monfils, who has a record for collapsing when it matters but came really close to a spectacular win. He also added, “I managed to fight my way back into it and I nearly made it. “It’s a pity, really.”

Novak Djokovic, who beat world number one Roger Federer in the Basel final week, showed signs of nerves at times and had to wait for Monfils to double fault on the first match point to seal victory after two hours 43 minutes. Djokovic had outclassed Rafael Nadal in the semi-finals and had dropped only one set en route to the final, had to dig deep to win his second title in as many weeks.

Outplayed at first, 15th seeded Gael Monfils, thrilled a partisan 14,000 crowd packing the Bercy hall by fighting back to win the second set and recovering from 4-1 down to level the decisive set before losing it 7-3 in a tiebreak.

Novak Djokovic Beats Gael Monfils and Wins at Paris Masters Final

Categories