Paris-Bercy, Masters 1000 to Holger Rune: Novak Djokovic tips his hat.

A historic victory, with the veteran taking his hat off.

The Paris-Bercy Masters 1000 goes to Holger Rune. Indeed, the Dane beat in three sets none other than Novak Djokovic, folded with a final of 3-6, 6-3, 7-5. And Nole himself had some very important words for him.

The final on the Parisian concrete seemed a formality for Djokovic at the start of the match, so much so that the Serb closed out the first set in just 36 minutes by taking advantage of a single break on Rune to close within nine games at 3-6. However, it took only as many for the rival to even the set count, moreover closing the second with the same score. Decisive, then, was the break that made it 6-5 to the Scandinavian and then the twelfth, eternal game of the third set.

“Yours was an incredible week,” Djokovic commented at the end of the match, “You deserved this victory, you have great personality and a bright future awaits you. I’m not happy that I lost, but I’m happy for you. Today you were a better opponent than I was, but there will always be a new challenge for me to focus toward.”