It’s what every player on the ATP Challenger Tour dreams of. The opportunity to take their game to the next level, and see all their hard work on the Challenger circuit translate to the ATP World Tour.

For Filip Krajinovic, that dream has become a reality in a flash. Many players competing on the ATP Challenger Tour have enjoyed great success in their transitions in 2017, with Denis Shapovalov, Damir Dzumhur and Yuichi Sugita streaking to career-highs in the Top 50 of the Emirates ATP Rankings. Add Krajinovic to that list.

The Serbian, who owns a tour-leading 47 match wins and five titles at the Challenger level this year, is into his first ATP World Tour final at the Rolex Paris Masters. In just his second tour-level event of the season, he has sprinted to the title match as a qualifier, claiming a pair of Top 20 scalps along the way (Querrey, Isner).

One of the candidates for Comeback Player of the Year in the 2017 ATP Awards presented by Moët & Chandon, Krajinovic is projected to soar to at least a career-high No. 33 on Monday. That’s more than 200 spots in less than one year, having opened the season outside the Top 200 following surgery to remove a bone in his right wrist. 

“I suffered a lot and I’ve had a lot of injuries in my career,” said Krajinovic. “But I stayed calm. I knew that one day everything will come back. I didn’t believe it’s going to happen this year, this tournament. Coming from qualies it’s an amazing feeling. Now I’m Top 40 in the world. I didn’t expect that also. My goal was to be Top 100 at the end of the year. And now, I’m just happy and emotions are big.

“A couple years ago I was starting to play better and better and I broke into the Top 100. Then all of a sudden they saw that I have an extra bone in my wrist. So I had to take care of that. It was hard. It was mentally really tough because getting older and older, all the sponsors said no to me. It was hard for me, but my family stayed with me and now I’m here.”

Players To Win On Both Circuits In 2017

*Krajinovic is bidding to become the first player to win a Challenger title and a Masters 1000 title in the same season 

Krajinovic has taken the ATP Challenger Tour by storm this year, in his quest to build his position in the Emirates ATP Rankings and rediscover his top level. A title on the clay of Heilbronn, Germany, as a qualifier, was followed by success in Marburg, Germany and Biella, Italy, during the summer months. Just one month ago, Krajinovic added crowns in Rome and Almaty, Kazakhstan, with both titles coming without dropping a set.

“It was my goal to play Challengers this year and get some confidence for the ATP World Tour,” said Krajinovic. “I didn’t expect to win five titles from five finals, but I believe that if I didn’t do well in the Challengers, I would not have the confidence here in Paris. I’m proud and happy for that.”

Krajinovic has been the centerpiece of an impressive Challenger movement for the nation of Serbia this year. A total of 12 titles from five different players has been a bright spot in Novak Djokovic’s absence. Janko Tipsarevic has lifted four trophies, with Laslo Djere, Dusan Lajovic and Miomir Kecmanovic each hoisting one. At 18, Kecmanovic is the country’s #NextGenATP hopeful, claiming his maiden crown last week in Suzhou, China.

Filip Krajinovic picks up his fourth #ATPChallenger ? of the season, defeating Daniel Gimeno-Traver 64 63 in Rome. Joins fellow ?? @TipsarevicJanko as lone players with four titles in 2017. pic.twitter.com/z4KYU9qlqh

— ATP Challenger Tour (@ATPChallenger) October 1, 2017

Krajinovic has reached the final of an ATP World Tour Masters 1000 event in just his fifth attempt. Only Jerzy Janowicz had fewer main draw appearances at the level (2) when he broke through in Paris 2012. In addition, he joins Alexander Zverev, Nick Kyrgios, Grigor Dimitrov and Albert Ramos-Vinolas as players making their Masters 1000 final debuts this year. 

But with all his success this week, Krajinovic believes it is icing on the cake after completing such a dominant Challenger campaign. He is looking to turn the page on what has been a tumultuous career and provide Serbia with a new superstar.

“My goal this year was to play Challengers to pick up the points for the next year to play against those guys. I wanted to play the smaller tournaments to pick up the [Emirates ATP Rankings] points and I did that. I said now I’m going to just play ATPs all the time. 

“I know I have the game that’s for sure. I just need to believe and to play with those guys every week. So next year it’s going to be like that, playing with those guys. I’m going to be ready and then we’ll see.”

Jack Sock and Filip Krajinovic have written their own fairytales at the Rolex Paris Masters. But only one can complete their dream run in Sunday’s final, the last ATP World Tour Masters 1000 match of the season.

The American right-hander entered the event at No. 24 in the Emirates ATP Race To London, with little hope of qualifying for his first Nitto ATP Finals. In the second round, which was Sock’s opener, he found himself down 1-5 in the third set against Kyle Edmund before rallying to advance. Now, he is into his first Masters 1000 final.

“To be completely honest, I had no idea I could still make London even if I was to win the tournament. I didn’t know if I was going to be even close. I had a good start to the year and a very bad middle and towards the end of the year. To be able to regroup and get that confidence back and play some of the tennis I’ve been able to play in the last few matches is big for me,” Sock said after his semi-final win against home favourite Julien Benneteau. “I should have been out first round here, in my first match, so I’m kind of just playing with house money now as you’d say. And just enjoying it.”

If Sock triumphs on Sunday, he will soar up the Race standings to earn the eighth berth in the year-end finale. If Krajinovic finishes off his dream week, Pablo Carreno Busta will qualify for London. The last time a player qualified for the Nitto ATP Finals by needing to win the Paris title was Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in 2008 (d. Nalbandian).

Krajinovic has had his own magical run in Paris. The Serbian started his week in qualifying, having won just one tour-level match all season. But that turned around quickly, as he beat two of the Top 10 seeds (No. 9 Isner and No. 10 Querrey) to reach his first ATP World Tour final. He can become the eighth first-time champion this season.

“The emotions are amazing. It was a tough mental match…when I served for the match, my hand was shaking. It was tough to control the emotions, but I knew I have to stay aggressive all the way to the end. I did it, and it’s the best day in my life,” Krajinovic said. “But the tournament is not over yet. I’ll prepare for tomorrow.”

The matchup between Sock and Krajinovic, who are both 25, is the second Masters 1000 final this season featuring two players born in the 1990s. At the Western & Southern Open in Cincinnati, Grigor Dimitrov (26) beat Nick Kyrgios (22). The last time two players debuting in a Masters 1000 final played each other in Paris was in 2012, when David Ferrer beat qualifier Jerzy Janowicz for his first Masters 1000 title.

This will be the first meeting on the ATP World Tour between the two, although Sock won 3-6, 6-4, 6-4 in the semi-finals of a 2014 ATP Challenger Tour event in Savannah, Georgia (l. to Kyrgios in final).

FedEx ATP Head2Head: Sock vs. Krajinovic

Sock is trying to become the first American to win the Rolex Paris Masters since Andre Agassi in 1999 (d. Safin) and is on the verge of several career firsts. If he defeats Krajinovic, Sock will:

+ Capture his first Masters 1000 title 

+ Become the first American to win an ATP Masters 1000 title since fellow Nebraska native Andy Roddick seven years ago in Miami

+ Earn the final spot for the season-ending Nitto ATP Finals in London (the first American to qualify in singles since Mardy Fish in 2011)

+ Win a personal-best three ATP World Tour singles titles in a season (Paris would be his first singles title in Europe and his first indoor trophy)

+ Break into the Top 10 in the Emirates ATP Rankings at No. 9 (improving his year-end ranking for a seventh-straight year)

+ Finish as the No. 1 American for the first time in his career

Krajinovic is appearing in his first ATP World Tour final and if he defeats Sock, he will:

+ Become the first qualifier to win a Masters 1000 title since Albert Portas won in Hamburg in 2001 (Portas was also the last player to win his maiden ATP World Tour title at a Masters 1000 event)

+ Become the first qualifier to win the Rolex Paris Masters in tournament history (since 1986)

+ Post wins over the Top 3 Americans in Paris: Querrey (2R), Isner (SF) and Sock (F)

+ Will jump from No. 77 to a career-high No. 25 in the Emirates ATP Rankings (No. 33 with a loss in the final)

+ Will become the lowest-ranked Masters 1000 champion since Hamburg in 1996 when No. 143 Roberto Carretero beat Alex Correjta to win the title. The last Masters 1000 champion outside Top 50 was No. 57 Chris Woodruff 20 years ago in Montreal (d. Kuerten)

+ Will join Novak Djokovic (30) as only Serbians to win a Masters 1000 singles title

+ Will earn €853,430 ($990,610 USD), more than doubling his career prize money ($860,429) coming into Paris

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Just two tournaments ago, Jack Sock brought a five-match losing streak to an end. When he arrived in Paris, the American was No. 24 in the Emirates ATP Race To London. So when the 25-year-old trailed Kyle Edmund 1-5 in the third set of his opening match at the Rolex Paris Masters, it looked like his season would come to a disappointing end.

Sock could not have imagined that just three days later he would defeat wild card Julien Benneteau, 7-5, 6-2, to advance to his first ATP World Tour Masters 1000 final.

“I was able to go out today and play my game, swing big, kind of like I always do, and play some good tennis and get through,” Sock said. “Tomorrow is just a good opportunity for me to go out and try to compartmentalize all the things that would come with winning tomorrow and just go out and play my tennis again.”

And perhaps more importantly, Sock is just a win over qualifier Filip Krajinovic away from qualifying for his first Nitto ATP Finals in what would be the most unlikely year-end finale qualification ever.

Yet here the right-hander is, two sets away from earning the eighth and final spot at The O2 in London from 12-19 November. If he defeats the Serbian on Sunday, Sock will soar 15 spots in the Race and past Pablo Carreno Busta, who will clinch a spot in his first Nitto ATP Finals if the American loses. 

“I had no idea I could still make London even if I was to win the tournament. I didn’t know if I was going to be even close. I had a good start to the year and a very bad middle and towards the end of the year. To be able to regroup and get that confidence back and play some of the tennis I’ve been able to play in the last few matches is big for me,” Sock said. “I should have been out first round here, in my first match, so I’m kind of just playing with house money now as you’d say. And just enjoying it.”

If Sock finishes his incredible week off with a title, he will also rise into the Top 10 of the Emirates ATP Rankings for the first time, which would once again make him the top-ranked American. Andy Roddick was the last man from the United States to raise a Masters 1000 trophy, in Miami seven years ago, and Andre Agassi was the last American to win the title in Paris, in 1999.

Sock could become the first American Nitto ATP Finals qualifier since Mardy Fish in 2011, and the youngest from his country to debut at the event since Roddick did it at the age of 21 in 2003.

The 16th seed did not get through his semi-final without having to battle, though. Benneteau, who posted back-to-back Top 10 wins in the same tournament for the first time in his career at the age of 35, retrieved a break of serve in the first set on two separate occasions. But Sock used his superior speed and athleticism throughout the match to stay in points that the Frenchman controlled, eventually jumping to the offensive with his thunderous forehand.

In the second set, it appeared that Benneteau’s energy reserves may have finally run out, double-faulting both breaks of serves away, while Sock did not lose a point on serve in the set.

Sock and Krajinovic have never met in an ATP World Tour event. Their only previous match came in 2014 at an ATP Challenger Tour event in Savannah — Sock won in three sets. 

It was the end of a dream run for the home favourite, Benneteau, who advanced to just his second Masters 1000 semi-final in his final Rolex Paris Masters appearance. 

“What I’m most proud of is that I was able to play four matches in a row at a very high level,” Benneteau said. “The first match was extremely good. I was able to continue to beat Jo-Wilfried [Tsonga], [David] Goffin, and [Marin] Cilic one after the other. And it’s great to have been able to do that here in Paris.”

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Lukasz Kubot and Marcelo Melo have made a home for themselves on the ATP World Tour Masters 1000 stage, and they would continue their dominant run of form in reaching the Rolex Paris Masters final.

The second-seeded Polish-Brazilian duo will contest a fifth Masters 1000 final of the year on Sunday, following a convincing 6-4, 6-2 victory over Jamie Murray and Bruno Soares in Saturday’s semi-finals. Following an opening round walkover, the tandem have not dropped a set all week, also breezing past Feliciano Lopez and Marc Lopez.

Champions on the hard courts of Miami and clay of Madrid as well as runners-up in both Indian Wells and Shanghai, Kubot and Melo are the first team to reach five Masters 1000 finals in a single season in three years. Bob Bryan and Mike Bryan contested seven such title matches in 2014.

Kubot and Melo will face either seventh seeds Ivan Dodig/Marcel Granollers or sixth seeds Jean-Julien Rojer/Horia Tecau, following the 70-minute dismissal of Murray and Soares. They saved all six break points faced and fired five aces in total, including one by Melo to close out the match. It will be the second Paris final for the Brazilian, who lifted the trophy with Dodig in 2015.

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