ATP Paris Masters final: World No 1 Novak Djovokic takes on Canadian Milos Raonic
Sunday 2 November 2014 15:30, UK
World No 1 Novak Djovokic will be chasing a 600th career win when he meets hard-hitting Canadian Milos Raonic in the final of the ATP Paris Masters on Sunday.
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The Wimbledon champion is still on a high having celebrated the birth of his first child last month, and is on course to finish the year as the No 1 player in the world for the third time.
Djokovic, the 2009 and 2013 champion in the French capital, has now won 26 straight matches indoors and will start as the overwhelming favourite to collect his third title in this event against a a player who has never beaten him.
The 23-year-old Raonic will be playing in his second Masters final after losing in Montreal to Rafael Nadal last year.
He has been enjoying the best year of his career, winning his sixth title in Washington and making it to the semi-finals at Wimbledon.
"I try to cherish every moment that I experience on the court and also off the court," Djokovic said after easily defeating Kei Nishikori 6-2 6-3 to revenge his US Open semi-final loss to the Japanese trailblazer.
"Off the court especially this year, my private life with getting married, becoming a father, it's been an incredibly joyful year for me," he added. "So I can't complain. ... I'm enjoying every moment of it."
Victory over Nishikori extended Djokovic's lead over Roger Federer in their fight for the year-end No 1 spot. They will be reunited for a last showdown at the ATP finals in London from November 9-16 at the O2 Arena, where Raonic and Nishikori will also feature.
Raonic on a high
Raonic followed up his surprise win over Federer with a 6-3 3-6 7-5 victory over former champion Tomas Berdych to reach Sunday's showpiece.
The Canadian came out on top when Berdych, the 2005 champion, lost his composure in the final game. Serving to stay in the match, the fifth-seeded Czech made four consecutive unforced errors, including two double-faults, to hand his opponent the win.
His second serve is also bouncing very high and he has a very good movement for someone of his height, so he's improved his baseline game and he's a complete player now.
Although he did not come close to the 21 aces he had against Federer, Raonic added 12 to increase his tally this week to 75.
"I definitely think I can do a lot better than I'm doing now," Raonic said. "I'm learning a lot more about myself, a lot more about my potential, what I believe I can do and how I need to do it. I think every goal that I set this year would be leading to me being in the finals in London, so to be able to achieve that is very special. It means a lot."
Djokovic, who leads the head-to-head meetings with Raonic 3-0 admits to being impressed with the Canadian.
"He's one of the best servers in the game, he's been serving regularly 220-230ks first-serves and he hasn't been missing too many," Djokovic said.
"His second serve is also bouncing very high and he has a very good movement for someone of his height, so he's improved his baseline game and he's a complete player now.
"He's experiencing the best time of his career with back-to-back wins against Federer and Berdych and I'm sure he's confident and motivated to win."
Watch Novak Djokovic take on Milos Raonic in the final of the ATP Paris Masters, live on Sky Sports 3, from 2pm (GMT).
