Wednesday Preview: Nadal & Djokovic Kick Off Year-End No. 1 Battle In Paris

There are few things that Rafael Nadal hasn’t done in his career, but one of them is win the Rolex Paris Masters. The second seed begins his quest for a maiden crown at the AccorHotels Arena on Wednesday when he faces home favourite Adrian Mannarino, while top-seeded Serbian Novak Djokovic starts his week against #NextGenATP Frenchman Corentin Moutet.

Wednesday’s schedule also kicks off the battle for year-end No. 1 between Djokovic and Nadal. If the Spaniard lifts the title in Paris, he’ll finish as year-end No. 1 for the fifth time. Meanwhile, Djokovic is seeking a record-tying sixth year-end finish atop the ATP Rankings.

“I prefer to be No. 1 to No. 2, and No. 2 to No. 3.,” Nadal said. “Of course, finishing the year [as] World No. 1 is something special and I would love to make that happen.”

Nadal has plenty of positive memories in the City of Lights with his historic success at Roland Garros. And while he’s never prevailed at the last ATP Masters 1000 event of the season, he still sports an impressive 16-5 record and has never lost before the quarter-finals.

“If it’s not good luck that I won 12 times in Roland Garros, it’s not bad luck that I never won here,” Nadal said. “I missed this tournament a lot of times in my career. Other times I didn’t play well and other times opponents have been better than me.”

Djokovic has never had issues bringing his best tennis in Bercy. The four-time champion holds a 32-8 record at this event and has reached the final in four of his past five appearances. The Serbian trails Nadal by 1,280 points in the ATP Race to London, which acts as a barometer for who will finish the year at No. 1, but the 1,000 points on offer for the winner this week would help Djokovic close the gap.

“He’s in a much better position, but I hope I can do well in this tournament. I’ve historically played really well indoors in Paris and also [Nitto ATP Finals in] London, but it doesn’t depend on me.” Djokovic said. “I cannot really focus too much on what he is doing or other players. I’ll try to get the most out of my performances and see where it takes me.”

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Italian Matteo Berrettini, who made his debut inside the Top 10 of the ATP Rankings this week, closes out the night session against 2008 champion and home favourite Jo-Wilfried Tsonga. The No. 10 seed looks to grab one of the two remaining spots for the season-ending Nitto ATP Finals, held at The O2 in London from 10-17 November. Berrettini is eighth in the Race with 2,660 points and will secure his maiden appearance at The O2 if he reaches the final in Paris.

Several other London hopefuls are also in action, including ninth seed Roberto Bautista Agut, No. 11 seed Fabio Fognini, 12 seed David Goffin and No. 13 seed Gael Monfils. All of them would secure their place at the season-ending championships by winning the title this week. Bautista Agut faces #NextGenATP Aussie Alex de Minaur in a knockout match for London, with De Minaur needing to win the title this week to have a chance at qualifying.

Diego Schwartzman, the No. 14 seed, joins No. 15 seed John Isner and No. 16 seed Stan Wawrinka as they continue their pursuits for London. Schwartzman needs to reach the final this week in order to have a shot at qualifying, while Wawrinka and Isner must take the title.

Other notable matches on Wednesday include fifth-seeded Austrian Dominic Thiem taking on Canadian Milos Raonic and seventh-seeded Greek Stefanos Tsitsipas squaring off with American Taylor Fritz.

ORDER OF PLAY – WEDNESDAY 30 October 2019
COURT CENTRAL start 11:00 am
[5] Dominic Thiem (AUT) vs Milos Raonic (CAN)
[7] Stefanos Tsitsipas (GRE) vs Taylor Fritz (USA)
[13] Gael Monfils (FRA) vs Benoit Paire (FRA)
[1] Novak Djokovic (SRB) vs [LL] Corentin Moutet (FRA)

Not Before 7:30 pm
[2] Rafael Nadal (ESP) vs [WC] Adrian Mannarino (FRA)
[10] Matteo Berrettini (ITA) vs [WC] Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (FRA)

Court 1 start 11:00 am
[2] Marcel Granollers (ESP) / Horacio Zeballos (ARG) vs Jean-Julien Rojer (NED) / Horia Tecau (ROU)
[11] Fabio Fognini vs Denis Shapovalov (CAN)
[12] David Goffin (BEL) vs Grigor Dimitrov (BUL)
[16] Stan Wawrinka (SUI) vs Marin Cilic (CRO)
[14] Diego Schwartzman (ARG) vs Kyle Edmund (GBR)
Rajeev Ram (USA) / Joe Salisbury (GBR) vs Robin Haase (NED) / Wesley Koolhof (NED)

Click here to view the rest of Wednesday’s schedule