Relentless Djokovic shows no signs of slowing down

Serb primed for ATP finals after blowing away Murray in Paris

A long year has taken its toll on some of the world's best tennis players, but the relentless Novak Djokovic gives no indication he is about to slacken the pace as he heads to the season-ending ATP World Tour finals in London.

Djokovic's single-minded desire for tennis perfection is pushing him to a consistently brilliant level, one which proved far too high for Andy Murray on Sunday.

The top-ranked Serb made light work of Murray in the Paris Masters final, beating the second-seeded Briton 6-2, 6-4 for his 10th title of an outstanding year that now includes a record six Masters titles to add to his three Grand Slam wins.

"I will continue to do what I'm doing so far. There is no reason for me to decrease the pace of the training and preparations and performances," Djokovic told a media conference.

"It's (London) the last tournament of the year, a very big tournament where I have done very well in the past."

With 10 titles in 2015, he is four ahead of Roger Federer. Djokovic now has won 26 Masters events altogether, two more than Federer and one behind leader Rafael Nadal.

"If you are going for perfection, you might reach excellence," the 10-time Grand Slam champion said after dispatching Murray in 1 hour, 33 minutes. "That's the kind of mindset I have."

The only major Djokovic did not win this year was the French Open, losing the final to Stan Wawrinka. It remains the only big trophy missing in his fast-growing collection of 58 career titles.

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.

"I take nothing for granted. I try to work on that all the time, because I know that is the only way I'm managing to stay successful," said the 28-year-old Djokovic after playing in his 14th straight tournament final this year.

"I'm not trying to keep the status quo, because for me then that's a regression."

In winning his third straight Paris Masters title, Djokovic clinched a fourth overall - surpassing his own coach Boris Becker's tally to set another record - but wondered how much further he could go.

"I think in terms of physical and mental ability, I have reached my peak," said Djokovic, who has reached finals in all but one tournament this year.

Djokovic extended his winning streak to 22 matches, and will be the favorite to win the season-ending ATP finals for the fourth straight time when the tournament starts in London on Nov 15.

"There is no reason for me to decrease the pace," Djokovic said. "Hopefully I can finish off the season with another great win."

Despite dropping only one set on the way to the final, two-time Grand Slam champion Murray simply could not compete.

"It's been an incredible year for him, well done," Murray said. "I missed with my backhand a little bit today, left a few too many in the middle of the court and he was able to dictate a lot of the points from there."

Serving for the match, Djokovic clenched his fist and yelled when Murray's return landed out, giving him match point. When Murray's aggressive two-handed backhand went wide, he turned and blew a kiss to coach Becker and the rest of his team.

In their 30th career meeting, Djokovic improved to 21-9 against Murray, who beat the Serb in the 2013 Wimbledon final.

Since then, Djokovic has won 10 of their 11 encounters. His only loss during that spell was in August, when Murray beat him in the Rogers Cup final in Montreal.

"Since the beginning of last year my results against him and Roger (Federer) haven't been good enough," said Murray, who will attempt to lead Britain to the Davis Cup title against Belgium later this month. "I need to think about why that is and what I can do to turn it around."

The second point of the match lasted 22 strokes, but Murray was rarely able to compete in the rallies after that.

Djokovic broke Murray at love in the third game, and the Briton had to save three break points in the fifth. Djokovic then held at love and broke again before serving out the set in 42 minutes.

Murray dropped his serve again to trail 2-1 in the second set but broke right back, only for Djokovic to get another break in the seventh game as he marched relentlessly toward another title.

Williams wins Elite Trophy; returns to top 10

Venus Williams edged Karolina Pliskova in two tight sets to win the inaugural WTA Elite Trophy on Sunday and burst back into the top 10 after 4 1/2 years.

The top seed and seven-time Grand Slam-winner put the seal on a fine end-of-year swing when she beat Czech Pliskova 7-5, 7-6 (6) in Zhuhai, Guangdong province.

The title was the second in recent weeks for Williams, 35, who also won last month's Wuhan Open and moves on to 48 career victories and 41 main-draw wins this year - her most since 2008.

She will now rise from 11th to seventh in the rankings, breaking back into the top 10 for the first time since April 2011 after a long battle with auto-immune disease Sjogren's Syndrome.

Williams, 35, will also be the oldest top-10 player in 20 years. But the resurgent American, whose younger sister Serena dominates the rankings, said she was still hungry for more.

"It's a great thing to be top 10 now with the level of the game, but I'm still very hungry. I'm ready for more," Williams said, according to the WTA website.

"I've had so many experiences in tennis that I still expect a lot from myself. So I'm very happy to be moving forward, but I also want to continue, and not stop here."

Williams ends the season with three titles - also her biggest tally since 2008, the year she last lifted a Grand Slam trophy when she won Wimbledon for a fifth time.

"I'm so excited to win the first trophy in Zhuha," she said.

"All the players felt so welcome here and we appreciated all of the enthusiasm shown by everyone."

All-but-unbeatable Novak Djokovic lines up a return to Andy Murray during the final of the ATP World Tour Masters 1000 indoor tournament in Paris on Sunday.Miguel Medina / Agence France Presse