Djokovic: Run the Table for Year-End No. 1

Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal split the Grand Slam spoils this season.Djokovic will cede the world No. 1 ranking to rival Nadal on Monday—regardless of results at this week's Rolex Paris Masters—and knows what he needs to do to regain the year-end top spot.Nadal: Love To Finish Year-End No. 1Run the table."In order to have a chance for year-end No. 1, I have to win all of my matches till the end of the season, which I'm aware of," Djokovic told the media in Paris. "But, again, also, you know, it depends on him, how he does."That's something Djokovic doesn't want to dwell on."These kind of calculations are never really great for mentality of a player, and they take away vital energy that you need to use for your performance," Djokovic said. "So I prefer not really think about it too much."

The top-seeded Serbian is in the top half of the draw along with fourth-seeded Daniil Medvedev, who beat Djokovic in Cincinnati, Roberto Bautista Agut, who owns a pair of hard-court wins over the No. 1 this season, Vienna champion Dominic Thiem and Australian Open semifinalist Stefanos Tsitsipas.The second-seeded Nadal, who has yet to win the Rolex Paris Masters, resides in the same half of the draw as reigning champion Karen Khachanov, sixth-seeded Alexander Zverev and US Open semifinalist Matteo Berrettini.The 33-year-old Spaniard is bidding to secure his fifth year-end No. 1 ranking and match Djokovic's mark."[Nadal is] in a much better position, but I hope I can do well in this tournament," Djokovic said. "I've historically played really well indoors in Paris and also London, but it doesn't depend on me. So, you know, I cannot really focus really too much on what he is doing or other players. I'll try to kind of get the most out of my performances and see where it takes me."

The world's top two squared off in a charity exhibition match in Kazakhstan last Thursday, which Nadal won.They shared the court again for a spirited two-hour practice in Paris over the weekend, which Djokovic called "a lot of fun." "I enjoyed it, to be honest. It was great," Djokovic said. "It was a lot of fun. It was very intense and competitive, as you can imagine, obviously, but in a very respectful way. And, you know, we played a couple of days before that, an exhibition charity match in Kazakhstan."Also, we got to spend some time together. And obviously we are rivals but that doesn't prevent us from being respectful and treating each other in the right way and our teams as well. I have always had that kind of relationship with Rafa. And regardless of which course our careers went to and how tense maybe sometimes rivalries were, but we always had respect for each other."The top seed said Nadal invests match intensity into practice."It was actually very unusual because we haven't practiced for years," Djokovic said. "And, yeah, it was strange because, you know, when I see him across the net, that means I'm playing him probably semifinals or finals of a big event, but this time it was a practice session. But nevertheless, the intensity was like a match."Photo credit: Christopher Levy]]>