Novak Djokovic beat Andy Murray for the 10th time in their last 11 meetings to lift the Paris Masters title once again.
A 6-2 6-4 victory for the world number one gave him his third successive trophy in Paris and earned him a 10th title of a season that just continues to get better.
Djokovic was playing in his 14th consecutive final — a record for a single season– and now has 22 straight wins having not lost since the final in Cincinnati in August.
Murray ended a run of eight consecutive losses to Djokovic in Montreal this summer but was comprehensively beaten in the semi-finals in Shanghai last month.
Djokovic did not even drop a set in winning titles in Beijing and Shanghai, and it was not until Saturday's semi-final in Paris that Stan Wawrinka finally broke that streak. But the Serbian responded by winning the deciding set to love and was in similarly ruthless form in the opening set against Murray.
The world number two tried to take the challenge to his opponent but too often he could not land the final shot. Djokovic broke serve for 2-1 and, although Murray fought for all he was worth to hold in a lengthy fifth game, a second break soon followed.
When Djokovic forged ahead again in the third game of the second set, Murray was in huge trouble, but for once the champion’s level slipped from stratospheric and he was pegged back.
At 3-2 and 0-30 on the Djokovic serve, there was a glimmer of hope for Murray, but he could not take advantage and soon found himself a game away from another defeat. He forced Djokovic to serve it out but the 28-year-old is well accustomed to such demands and clinched victory when Murray hooked a return wide.
The victory brought Djokovic a record sixth Masters title of the season, and he will be the hot favourite to successfully defend his title at the ATP World Tour Finals in London starting next week.
Murray hit twice as many winners as Djokovic but 34 unforced errors was simply too many and the Scot did not serve consistently well enough to apply the necessary pressure.
