How good is Djokovic in the Paris Masters final?

France Missed many backhands at the beginning of the 2023 Paris Masters final, but Novak Djokovic adjusted in time and won the championship with the certainty of these shots.

Djokovic's backhand in the final against Grigor Dimitrov was considered by the ATP to be the key to the 6-4, 6-3 victory. It seemed to help Nole build an impenetrable wall. Thanks to that, the world number one tennis player controlled the flow of points steadily from the back of the court.

Djokovic's defense was considered classic, as he only came to the net five times and "dodged left to hit right" 15 times from the left court (ad-court) during the match. Djokovic invested heavily in his backhand, and after a difficult start, it paid off with his 40th Masters 1000 title.

Djokovic hit 101 baseline backhands in the match against Dimitrov in the Paris Masters final on November 5. Photo: AP

Djokovic missed six of his first 13 baseline backhands, not counting returns and volleys. Dimitrov attacked effectively early in the match with backhand slices and powerful backhands. After the match, Djokovic said both players played tight in the early games. In fact, Nole was the more consistent and adaptable one.

After a few stumbles, Djokovic made no errors on his final 29 backhands of the first set. This put pressure on Dimitrov, who gradually understood that he had to hit winners to collect points rather than wait for backhand errors from his opponent. Overall, Djokovic hit more backhands than forehands in the match, as he was content to build points through the ad-court box and force Dimitrov to take risks to win the rallies.

In the baseline, Djokovic hit 101 backhands, equivalent to 57%, and only 76 forehands (43%). The backhand helped Nole win three winners, forcing his opponent to miss 11 times, while the forehand brought two winners and forced Dimitrov to miss nine times.

Djokovic's overall plan is to hit as many cross-court backhands as possible into the ad-court box, to force Dimitrov's one-handed backhand. 73% of the Serbian's backhands are cross-court, 10% are mid-court and just 17% are down the line. By comparison, Dimitrov hits just 60% of his backhands cross-court, 23% are mid-court and 17% are down the line.

Djokovic won the decisive point of the match with a successful backhand on Dimitrov. Photo: Tennis.com

Dimitrov may also feel comfortable playing Djokovic cross-court on the ad-court, but that means he’s cutting down on his powerful forehands. Dimitrov hit just 101 baseline forehands in the match, compared to 93 backhands. A forehand ratio of just 52% never helped the Bulgarian dominate Djokovic.

Djokovic turned the final into a defensive battle by frequently going backhand and staying deep. Dimitrov had no way to counter Djokovic’s solid backhand, despite his deep base. Thirty-four percent of Djokovic’s shots came when he was more than two metres from the baseline, 52 percent when Nole was within two metres and just 14 percent when the Serb was in the court. Dimitrov’s numbers were 14 percent, 67 percent and 19 percent respectively.

Djokovic's deep stance also helped Dimitrov win 70% of points at the net (7/10). After the match, the Bulgarian player will probably wonder why he didn't try to find more opportunities to come to the net, instead of standing at the back of the court to compete with Nole. In the US Open final with Nole, Djokovic took full advantage of Daniil Medvedev's deep stance, serving the ball to the net 22 times and winning 20 points. Medvedev only realized this after the match and was very troubled.

Dimitrov used many left-hand cuts in cross-court rallies with Djokovic. Photo: Reuters

Dimitrov's poor baseline play was also reflected in his poor returns, as he won just 19% of his first-serve points and 31% of his second-serve points. Notably, for every two first-serve points Nole made, Dimitrov missed one. This high ratio prevented Dimitrov from having a single break point in the 98-minute match.

Djokovic, in many matches, often wins by dominating his opponent everywhere on the court. Against a Dimitrov who was full of spirit after eliminating Medvedev, Hubert Hurkacz and Stefanos Tsitsipas in the previous rounds, Nole wisely switched to a solid and tough mode in the final. The world number one bet on his backhand and was rewarded when his opponent was poorly adapted, discouraged and made many tactical mistakes.

"Even when Djokovic was not in the best physical condition, he could always put me in a very uncomfortable position and make me strain every shot," Dimitrov admitted after the match. "If you beat Djokovic in the final, it would be one of the biggest achievements you can have in this sport."

Vy Anh

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