Karen Khachanov has won the ATP Masters 1000 tournament in Paris Bercy. The Russian sensationally defeated Novak Djokovic, the first of the world rankings from Monday onwards.
As in 2017, the last ATP Masters 1000 tournament in Paris-Bercy brought a surprise winner: twelve months ago Jack Sock celebrated his greatest career success, now Karen Khachanov won his career with a 7:5 and 6:4 against Novak Djokovic the biggest victory of his career.
The match seemed to take the expected route early on – despite the fact that Djokovic had been on court for more than three hours in his grandiose semi-final against Roger Federer, Khachanov had been on court for much less than half as long in his win against Dominic Thiem. The favourite started well, however, with a break to 3:2. Khachanov immediately countered, kept the game open until 5-5 – and in the eleventh game he took the service of the favorite.
The 22-year-old served the first act with slight problems. And he didn’t let up in the second movement either. The 3-1 break sealed the end of Djokovic’s winning streak, who hadn’t lost a match since losing to Stefanos Tsitsipas in Toronto.
Nevertheless, Novak Djokovic will take over the top of the world rankings again on Monday – and drive to the ATP Finals in London as the favourite. For Paris winner Karen Khachanov, who defeated Dominic Thiem and Alexander Zverev during the tournament, the 2018 season is over. With a bang.