Novak Djokovic easily beats Andy Murray to win Paris Masters title

PARIS -- Novak Djokovic beat Andy Murray 6-2, 6-4 to win the Paris Masters for the third straight year and a record fourth time overall, dominating the second-seeded Briton from the outset in a one-sided final.

The top-ranked Serb was largely untroubled in clinching his 10th title of the season -- four ahead of Roger Federer and six more than Murray. It was the 58th title of his career and 26th in Masters events, two more than Federer and one behind leader Rafael Nadal.

"If you are going for the 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."

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

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

As he continues to chase success at Roland Garros and maintains his quest to win all four Grand Slam events in one year -- he has won three in a year twice -- means his motivation level will be 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."

Despite dropping only one set on his way to the final, Murray simply could not compete with Djokovic, who won his sixth Masters title of the year -- setting a new record.

"It's been an incredible year for him, well done," Murray said.

Serving for the match, Djokovic clenched his fist and yelled when Murray's return landed out to give him match point. When Murray's aggressive two-handed backhand went just wide, he turned and blew a kiss to his coach Boris Becker -- who has won this event three times.

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

But since then, Djokovic has won 10 of their 11 encounters. His only loss during that stretch 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 that was about as competitive as it got.

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.