ATP Paris Masters 2018 final, Karen Khachanov vs Novak Djokovic: 3 things learned

3. Djokovic’s backhand groundstrokes were not up to the mark:

Djokovic's backhand groundstrokes were below par

Djokovic has built his career mostly upon his brilliant groundstrokes and court coverage. He has the greatest groundstrokes of all time. However, on Sunday, his backhand groundstrokes were not up to the mark and did him in. Djokovic played some backhand crosscourt shots in the second set to take the ball to Khachanov’s weaker backhand, thereby not allowing the latter to play his mighty forehand shots.

However, that plan backfired as Djokovic himself could not hit his backhand shots very well and committed 15 unforced errors in the second set. He could not extend the rallies beyond a certain point and as a result, Khachanov did not have much trouble in holding his serve. Also, he hit his strokes with considerable strength, which meant that the ball traveled very fast to Djokovic. As a result, Djokovic did not get enough time to play his groundstrokes and thereby dictate terms in the rallies.