Djokovic makes short work of Murray
PARIS — Novak Djokovic’s relentless desire for tennis perfection is pushing him to a consistently brilliant level, one that proved far too high for Andy Murray on Sunday.
The top-ranked Serb dominated Murray in the Paris Masters final, beating the second-seeded Briton 6-2, 6-4 for his 10th title of an outstanding year that now includes a record six Masters titles to add to his three Grand Slam wins.
With 10 titles in 2015, he is four ahead of Roger Federer. Djokovic now has won 26 Masters events altogether — two more than Federer and one behind leader Rafael Nadal.
“If you are going for the perfection, you might reach excellence,” the 10time Grand Slam champion said after dispatching Murray in 1 hour, 33 minutes. “That’s the kind of mindset I have.”
The only major Djokovic did not win this year was the French Open, losing the final to Stan Wawrinka, and it remains the only big trophy missing in his fastgrowing collection of 58 career titles.
Chasing success at Roland Garros and the quest to win all four Grand Slams in one year — he has won three in a year twice — means his motivation level will remain undiminished in 2016.
“I take nothing for granted. I try to work on that all the time, because I know that is the only way I’m managing to stay successful,” said the 28-yearold Djokovic after playing in his 14th consecutive tournament final this year.
In their 30th career meeting, Djokovic improved to 21-9 against Murray, who beat the Serb in the 2013 Wimbledon final. Since then, Djokovic has won 10 of their 11 encounters. In other tennis news: • Top-seeded Venus Williams beat Karolina Pliskova 7-5, 7-6 (6) to win the WTA Elite Trophy at Zhuhai, China. With her third win of the year, Williams returns to the top 10 for the first time in more than four years.