at wear, Novak Djokovic dismisses Andrey Rublev and joins Grigor Dimitrov in the final

It bends, but definitely never breaks. Once again trailing, the unsinkable world number 1, Novak Djokovic, got back in the saddle to overthrow Andrey Rublev in the semi-finals of the Masters 1000 at Paris-Bercy (5-7, 7-6 [7-3], 7-5), Saturday November 4. In a scenario identical to his round of 16 victory against Tallon Griekspoor, the Serb triumphed at the end of an extended match (3h01), after having conceded the first set and beginning his comeback by winning the second in tie-break.

A cruel scenario for Andrey Rublev, who ended with a double fault on his opponent’s first match point. Did he smash his racket out of spite or helplessness? Probably a bit of both. Perhaps he had guessed the outcome of the game when the Serb took a 13-minute break after returning to a set everywhere. It’s as if the Russian had missed his chance.

However, he started the match perfectly by taking advantage of Novak Djokovic’s unusual slag and dropping two service games in the first set (5-7). But the appearance completely changed in the last set, with a reinvigorated Djokovic and a nervous Rublev, even if he was still in the game. The outcome took a long time to emerge. It was delayed by a few mistakes from a Serbian who could largely improve and perhaps slowed down by the digestive problems which have been handicapping him since the start of the week. But Djokovic did Djokovic and the sentence fell almost naturally.

Dimitrov, surprise opponent

Djokovic will play his fifth consecutive final at Bercy and will try to win a seventh coronation. For the 137th final of his career on the ATP circuit, he will meet the surprising Grigor Dimitrov (17th in the world) on Sunday (3 p.m.), who defeated Stefanos Tsitsipas a few hours earlier (6-3, 6-7 [1-7]7-6 [7-3]) and qualified for his second Masters 1000 final, six years after his only title at this level in Cincinnati. But the task promises to be difficult for the Bulgarian, who has only won one of his 12 confrontations with the Serbian, in 2013, in Madrid.