Novak Djokovic will be taking on Gael Monfils and a partisan home crowd in Sunday’s Paris Masters final.
Djokovic has had a brilliant autumn and is enjoying his best ever run in Bercy, a tournament in which he’s really struggled in the past. He dispatched Rafael Nadal with aplomb on Saturday, a 6-2, 6-3 drubbing and Nadal admitted afterwards that he’s never known Djokovic to play so well.
Gael Monfils had to endure a much tenser afternoon to receive his first Masters series final. He served for the match at 6-4, 5-4 but tensed up and lost three straight games to send his semi-final with Radek Stepanek into a decider. However, the home crowd lifted Monfils and he came good in the third to win 6-4, 5-7, 6-4. Monfils really thrives on the adrenaline of these big occasions particularly when the crowd is behind him and it’s no surprise that most of the big moments in his career have come on French soil.
If Monfils wins the title then he’ll leap into the top ten but he’s never beaten Djokovic before, losing on three occasions. They had an epic five setter at the US Open back in 2005 when the pair were both talented unknowns but since then Djokovic has made the faster progress and he beat Monfils in the quarters of the Beijing Olympics last year.
Djokovic is remarkably consistent in the Masters events on all surfaces, this is his fifth final this week, quite a statistic given the strength of the fields.
Both players are brilliant athletes so it should be an entertaining final but I can’t see past Djokovic winning. He’s been striking the ball so well for the past couple of weeks and is a better returner than Monfils. With both having massive serves that could be a vital difference.
Djokovic is 1/5 favourite with bet365 and Monfils is priced at 7/2
