PARIS – World number one Novak Djokovic saw off Canadian Denis Shapovalov 6-3 6-4 to win his fifth Paris Masters title on Sunday in a warning to his rivals ahead of the ATP Finals.
The Serbian faced only one break point in another impressive display to claim a 34th career Masters title against world number 28 Shapovalov, who was playing his first final at that level.
"I served very well, there were not many rallies in the match. A break in each set was enough, it was the best serving performance in this tournament," said Djokovic, who did not drop a set this week.
"It was his first Masters final so in a way experience prevailed."
Djokovic, who will be supplanted by Rafael Nadal at top of the ATP rankings on Monday, made a fine start, stealing Shapovalov's first service game as he opened a 3-0 lead.
%%%twitter https://twitter.com/hashtag/RolexParisMasters?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#RolexParisMasters....
Singles titles 5
Singles finals 6
Match wins 37
Consecutive match wins 17 @DjokerNole is King of Paris. We like the 👑😉 pic.twitter.com/bSN1zrKjvu
— ROLEX PARIS MASTERS (@RolexPMasters)
The Serb was never threatened in the opening set, dropping only four points on serve as Shapovalov looked tight having not played on Saturday following Rafael Nadal's withdrawal.
Shapovalov faced a break point in the first game of the second set, saving it with a powerful first serve but a forehand error on Djokovic's second opportunity gave his opponent a decisive 4-3 lead.
Djokovic then held serve throughout to snatch a morale-boosting victory ahead of the Nov. 10-17 ATP Finals in London, where he will be looking to secure the year-end world number one spot.