No. 1 Djokovic 'brings home another tree in the woods'

Paris: World No. 1 tennis player Novak Djokovic came up with a unique way to describe his latest title -- his sixth Paris Masters Trophy -- the Serb won after defeating Russian's world No.2 Daniil Medvedev on Sunday night.

Djokovic, who had broken the tie with American legend Pete Sampras for the most number of year-end world No.1 finishes on the ATP rankings on Saturday (November 6), tweeted images of him holding the Paris Masters trophy (designed like a tree) inside a glitzy room shaped like a hexagon.

He tweeted, "What a day, what a week. Blessing after blessing. My loves, both my children witnessing this moment. Crown for years of hard work. My amazing team. Fantastic matches. Many memories to take away. Grateful to bring home another tree in the woods to where this wolf sleeps (Trophy, Winking face, Wolf face emojis)."

By "woods", Djokovic meant his trophy cabinet, while "where this wolf sleeps" could easily mean the ace tennis player's lair.

Djokovic recorded his fifth title of the year in Paris, taking sweet revenge over Medvedev, defeating the world No.2 and defending champion 4-6, 6-3, 6-3 on Sunday.

Djokovic, who had rallied to defeat Poland's Hubert Hurkacz in the Paris Masters semifinals to clinch a record seventh year-end world No.1 finish on November 6, avenged his US Open final loss to Medvedev for a record-breaking 37th ATP Masters 1000 crown in 2 hours and 15 minutes.

It was the 14th time this season that Djokovic rallied to victory from a set down to capture his sixth Paris Masters title. It was also the first Paris Masters final to feature the top-two players on the ATP rankings since 1990.

Djokovic said that he studied the footage of the US Open loss to Medvedev to understand where he had gone wrong against the Russian at Flushing Meadows. Djokovic was on course for a calendar Grand Slam before he was derailed by world No. 2 Medvedev in the final.

"I went back and reviewed the final of the US Open to see what I did wrong and what I did right," Djokovic told the Tennis Channel late on Sunday evening.

Djokovic also broke his tie with Spain's Rafael Nadal with whom he shared the record for the most number of Masters 1000 titles at 36 before the Serb won his 37th title on Sunday evening.

Asked about his serve-volley tactics, Djokovic said, "He (Medvedev) stands so far back in the court, so you try to open up the court with wide serves and come in. You still have to play some half volleys, some low volleys and come in, but you have the whole of the court to play with."

The two players now take their rivalry to Turin where they play the elite Nitto ATP Finals, to be held November 14-21.