Novak Djokovic has a chance to win the Paris Masters for the 7th time in his career. On Sunday, the World No. 1 will face Grigor Dimitrov at the event. This will be the final match in the tournament, one where Dimitrov will be looking to end a near six-year title drought. The Bulgarian has won a Masters Series title before, however, he has been off of the podium since the 2017 ATP Tour Finals. My Djokovic vs Dimitrov prediction for the 2023 Rolex Paris Masters event is that the former will win this championship match.
Order of Play: Right-click/Open in the New Tab to check match times: subject to change
Novak Djokovic vs Grigor Dimitrov Head-to-Head Series
These two players are the last men standing in the Paris draw. But neither has advanced in a smooth manner. Djokovic has won three straight matches in the third set by a single break. Dimitrov won his semifinal in a third-set tiebreaker. He dropped two sets earlier in the tournament as well.
Djokovic and Dimitrov have a long head-to-head history. The Serb almost completely owns it with an 11-1 record against Dimitrov.
The Bulgarian has not had a victory over the Serb since the 2013 Madrid Masters in Spain, a clay-court event. Djokovic is 7-0 against Dimitrov on the hard-court surface and 2-0 on the indoor hard-court surface. In these latter conditions, both of the matches were played at the Paris Masters events in the past.
This is a match between a 36-year-old Djokovic and a 32-year-old Dimitrov. Each scythed their ways through a draw of younger players. Dimitrov took out Stefanos Tsitsipas, Hubert Hurkacz, and Daniil Medvedev en route to the final. Djokovic beat Andrey Rublev and Holger Rune en route to the final.
The Draw: Right-click/Open in the New Tab for the draw for the 2023 Rolex Paris Masters
Djokovic vs Dimitrov Prediction: Djokovic wins
This a match where the head-to-head series has to loom large. Djokovic hasn’t lost to Dimitrov in over ten years with a clean sweep of the hard-court matches in their careers.
There was a time when Dimitrov was thought to be one of the players that would slow down Djokovic, Rafael Nadal, Andy Murray, Roger Federer, and Stan Wawrinka. However, that did not really come to fruition. It’s to the Bulgarian’s credit that he just beat some players who are much younger than him in Paris. But it’s the older generation that Dimitrov always struggled with.
Djokovic should not be bothered by four matches in Paris, even though they were tough. His movement might only be affected a little. However, even in matches where he hasn’t moved around like a gymnast, he has found a way to win so often. Dimitrov didn’t have a bye through the first round so he should be more tired for this upcoming match, despite an edge in youth.
My recommendation is to go with Djokovic at -300 (bet365). Not only is he 7-0 against Dimitrov on the hard-court surface, but Djokovic is a tournament closer. He has won so many finals in the last six seasons and Dimitrov has won zero in that time. From some points of view, you might put Djokovic at much shorter odds than just -300.
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