Daniil Medvedev’s coach Gilles Cervara lauded Novak Djokovic after the Paris Masters win

Novak Djokovic recently came out on top against Daniil Medvedev in the finals of the Paris Masters. It was called the revenge match for the Serb after his US Open defeat against the Russian. Djokovic here also dropped the first set and then came back to win the next two, eventually winning the event.

After the match, Medvedev’s coach Gilles Cervara shared his thoughts on the Paris Masters finals. His ward lost the match 4-6, 6-3, 6-3 in what was called a revenge match. It was revenge for Medvedev’s famous US Open final win against the Serb. Djokovic at that time was standing on the cusp of history but Medvedev had other ideas. The Russian defeated Djokovic in straight sets and denied him the opportunity to win the Calendar Grand Slam.

Cervara shared his thoughts on his interaction with L’Equippe. Firstly he lauded Djokovic for his exceptional performance at the finals of the Paris Masters but was cheeky enough to slide in a tongue in cheek moment when he mentioned that Medvedev won when it mattered the most.

“Bravo Novak,” Cervara said. “I found him much stronger than in New York (victory 6-4, 6-4, 6-4). Fortunately, we won the final that had to be won (smiles).”

Cervara highlighted how his ward did well to take the first set in the Paris masters finals. Especially after the Russian was not serving his best. he gave credit to Djokovic for appearing very relaxed and feels that is what allowed the 34-year-old to win the game from a set down.

“Daniil did well in the 1st set because he saves two break points to 2-3 and raised his level to dominate Novak,” Cervara said. “Novak seemed very relaxed, yes, but I’m never surprised with him.”

Cervara lastly added that Medvedev winning the first set motivated Djokovic to go harder and hence he got the result in his favour. He felt that his ward lacked energy in the second set and that was the moment which Djokovic needed to capitalise to come back into the game. The World No.1 scripted history as he broke Pete Sampras’ record of most number of year ends with top rank finishes. Djokovic achieved his seventh year-end finish with World no. 1 rank hence breaking Sampras’ record of six.