It still wasn’t a great day for Murray, as he lost the Masters final in Paris to Djokovic 6-2, 6-4 – giving the Serbian World No 1 his third successive title in the event held in the French capital.
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Andy Murray will begin his preparations for the Davis Cup final on Monday after once again coming up short against Novak Djokovic in the final of the Paris Masters.
Djokovic has won 22 straight matches and 32 of his last 33 sets.
In a see-saw opening set, Ferrer set up four more break points in the eighth game but Murray saved them all and stole the serve of the Spaniard who made a string of unforced errors.
But then, as the momentum was shifting in his direction and he had Djokovic at 0-30 on the Serb’s serve, he lost the next five points and went on to drop his serve.
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“It’s always very physical, also very psychologically demanding (against Murray)”, Djokovic said.
Chasing success at Roland Garros, and the quest to win all four Grand Slams in one year – he has won three in a year twice – means his motivation level will remain undiminished in 2016.
The victory brought Djokovic a record sixth Masters title of the season, and he is the clear 1/2 favourite to successfully defend his title in London, while Federer is next in the betting at 7/2.
“Since the beginning of a year ago, my results against him [Djokovic] and Roger, from my perspective, haven’t been good enough”, said Murray.
Up a break in the first set, Nadal earned a set point at 5-3 but couldn’t cash in.
The 10-time Grand Slam champion nailed his third match point when Wawrinka’s forehand sailed out, and the players hugged at the net.
Djokovic is now a dominating 27-4 against Top 10 opponents this year and has now won 26 Masters 1000 events in total.
Murray would again be put under pressure by Djokovic as he was forced to cling onto his serve again to keep his nose in front at the start of the second set.
Djokovic ended a quick final on his first match point when Murray returned wide.
Djokovic heads to next week’s ATP World Tour Finals as the prohibitive favorite. Obviously, it’s harder playing against the best player than someone that’s ranked No 8 in the world.
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Murray earlier beat David Ferrer 6-4, 6-3 to record a fourth consecutive win against the eighth-seeded Spaniard, and reach his first final at the Paris indoor arena.
