Grigor Dimitrov was in tears after losing to Novak Djokovic in the final of the Rolex Paris Masters as the fans and his team chanted his name. The world No 17 was contesting his first Masters final in more than six years but failed to set up any break point chances as the top seed won 6-4 6-3.
Dimitrov fell at the final hurdle on Sunday after completing a fairytale run to the championship match in Bercy. The 32-year-old defeated three top 15 players en route to the final in Daniil Medvedev, Hubert Hurkacz and Stefanos Tsitsipas. But he was no match for the dominant world No 1 as Djokovic came through in straight sets to win a record-extending seventh title in Bercy and 40th Masters crown.
Following his 98-minute defeat, the Bulgarian sat on his bench looking emotional with his face in his towel when the Accor Arena decided to show their support for him. Led by his team – including Andy Murray’s old coach Jamie Delgado – the whole room burst out into chants of “Grigor”.
The former world No 3 started crying in response, fighting back the tears and wiping his face with his towel as he smiled and thanked the fans. Dimitrov then had some heartfelt words for the spectators as he stepped up to give his runner-up speech.
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“I don’t know, I think I’m running out of words for Novak so I’m going to start with the crowd first,” Dimitrov said. “I want to say how grateful I am for this week. It’s been such a rollercoaster the past three months for me, getting to the final of this tournament means so much more than you guys can imagine but also that would not be possible without you and your support. Honestly, I’m so grateful”
Turning his attention to his opponent, the eight-time title winner continued: “Novak again, congratulations. I don’t know what to say at all, we’re running out of words for you. In all honesty, congratulations for another amazing week to you and your team.”
After dropping out of the top 30 earlier this year, Dimitrov is set to return to the top 15. And he thanked his team for helping him rediscover his best form. “My team, my god we had a blast this week, well done guys,” he added. “Thank you, thanks to everyone in the box. It’s been an amazing journey this year, completing yet another year on such a good and such a high note, I’m very pleased with that.”
The former world No 3 made sure not to leave anyone out of his speech, thanking the staff, ball kids, tournaments director and photographers. And it was clear just how much his run in Bercy meant as he concluded: “Honestly, I cannot find more words to express the gratitude that I have right now. Thank you all and I’ll keep on going.”
Meanwhile, Djokovic was full of kind words for his opponent. “Grigor, I’m sorry about the outcome today. Obviously it’s never easy in the finals but I want to encourage you to stay tough and keep going because you played some of the greatest tennis that I’ve seen you play this week and these last few months,” the seven-time Bercy champion said.
Laughing, the top seed added: “Congratulations to your team, to your family. It’s always a pleasure to share the court with you, we go back a long time. We are kind of the veterans on tour. We are the next next gen or whatever they call this, 30+ gen.”
