Tennis: Djokovic qualifies for the final of the Paris Masters

To keep options of regaining the world tennis throne during the ATP Finals in London, the Serbian needed to make it to the Paris final, where he will play against Nadal or Canadian Denis Shapovalov.

Djokovic, who with four titles in Paris is the player who has won the indoor tournament in the French capital the most times, will play his sixth final of the season, in which he has won four titles and his 50th Masters 1,000 title in his career, in search of his 34th title.

It was a hard-fought qualification against an opponent who had been displaying one of the highest quality games of the week on the banks of the Seine and who had defeated two seeded players, Belgian David Goffin and Austrian Dominic Thiem.

But Djokovic has recovered his best form, after a hesitant start to the tournament, feeling a bit sick, as he admitted, and showed great tennis again, like in the previous round against Greek Stefanos Tsitsipas.

The Serbian showed quality in the key moments of the match, more experience than his opponent, who had him on the ropes in the tiebreak of the first set.

But he couldn't finish it and letting opportunities slip away is a suicidal attitude against Djokovic.

The equality was total in the first set, in which both players held their serve well, without giving any break points, which led to a tiebreak.

Aware of the importance of winning the first set, both players raised the level of their tennis to give the audience an excellent moment of tennis.

The Bulgarian managed to go up 5-3 and even 5-4 with two serves in his favor. But at that moment, after a great exchange of shots, when it seemed that he had managed to get Djokovic out of the court, he hit a right volley that seemed like it was going to give him the first set point.

The error affected his morale and he didn't score any more points in the set.

Dimitrov's resistance, who hadn't reached the semifinals of a Masters 1,000 since last year's Monte Carlo, was faltering, while Djokovic maintained his usual high level, without giving any concessions to his opponent.

The opportunity had passed for the Bulgarian, who seemed to regret not having taken advantage of it and who lost his serve in the fourth game of the second set for the first time in the match. A disadvantage that he couldn't overcome until the end of the match.