Serbia's Novak Djokovic defeated defending champion David Ferrer 7-5, 7-5 on Sunday to win the Paris Masters after a thrilling final at the Bercy arena. The Spaniard twice served for both sets only for the six-time Grand Slam winner to show his pedigree and break at the crucial moments before holding serve to close out the first set and then the match. Ferrer fell short of becoming the first player to successfully defend the Paris title while Djokovic took another step towards regaining the number one spot from Rafael Nadal heading to the World Tour Finals.
It was also Djokovic's 40th ATP title victory, the 15th player to reach this milestone.
"I'm full of joy right now and this is one of the biggest weeks of the tennis season so I'm really happy and just want to continue like this," said the 26-year-old Serbian. "This win has given me a lot of confidence and we'll see now what happens in London," he added in reference to the World Tour Finals where he still has a chance to take the world number one spot from Nadal.
Ferrer grabbed the first break after a punishing rally at 30-40 was finally won by the Spaniard with a perfect drop shot that left the number one candidate stranded at the back of the court. Djokovic, true to his sportsmanlike manner, applauded his opponent's brilliance as the crowd roared their approval at the sheer quality of the tennis. The Serb carved out his first break point of the match in the following game, but Ferrer held firm and built his resilience on his excellent first serve which was reaping him a winning percentage of 80 per cent.
With the Spaniard serving for the set at 5-4, Djokovic launched his assault and this time on break point he fired a forehand winner that grazed the line and pulled him back on level terms.
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