The year-end No. 1 ATP Ranking could be sealed after Saturday’s Rolex Paris Masters semi-finals. Do the stakes get much higher than that?

Second seed Rafael Nadal continues his pursuit of his first title at this ATP Masters 1000 tournament, and his 36th trophy at this level. But the Spaniard will have to get by a highly motivated 20-year-old in Denis Shapovalov, who is trying to make his first final at this level. Nadal has not dropped a set this week, but Shapovalov is fresh off a stunning straight-sets victory against Gael Monfils, which eliminated the Frenchman from Nitto ATP Finals contention.

Nadal is 4-0 on the year against lefties, and 100-15 in his tour-level career. But one of those defeats came at Shapovalov’s hands two years ago in Montreal, in the midst of the Canadian’s magical run to the semi-finals when he was only 18. Nadal then evened their FedEx ATP Head2Head series at 1-1 last year in Rome.

“He doesn’t need any advice. That’s the real thing. He’s good in all aspects. The only thing that he needs is a little bit more time. Maybe not that much,” Nadal said after their Rome clash, cracking a smile. “He’s good. He’s very good.”

Watch Highlights: Shapovalov Vs. Nadal At 2017 Montreal

Nadal is just two victories away from clinching year-end No. 1. And if Novak Djokovic loses Saturday’s first semi-final against Grigor Dimitrov, Nadal will only need to defeat Shapovalov to accomplish the feat. But while he will be the underdog, Shapovalov carries plenty of momentum into the match. Over the past three months, the Canadian has won his first ATP Tour title in Stockholm, made semi-finals in Winston-Salem and Chengdu, and now he has a shot to earn his third Top 10 win of the year, just two days after earning his second against Alexander Zverev.

“I feel like with that title in Stockholm, it kind of gave me a sense of calmness, relief. And I’ve just been able to enjoy the last couple weeks of the season,” Shapovalov said. “Because of that, I feel like I’ve been able to play really well.”

Djokovic and Dimitrov will kickstart the day’s singles action when they meet for the 10th time in their FedEx ATP Head2Head series. Although the World No. 1 — who holds the record with four titles at this tournament — has beaten Dimitrov on eight of nine occasions, Djokovic knows the man across the net is playing tennis reminiscent of when he won the 2017 Nitto ATP Finals.

“He’s been playing some terrific tennis this week. I saw him play the past couple of days. He seems to really like the conditions here,” Djokovic said. “I don’t play too bad myself, so it’s going to be for sure a good one.”

The pair’s only previous clash on indoor hard came here in Paris three years ago, when Djokovic triumphed 4-6, 6-2, 6-3. Dimitrov did not lose a set against David Goffin in the second round or Dominic Thiem in the third round, so Djokovic knows his Bulgarian opponent is particularly dangerous in these conditions.

“The quicker it is, I think the better chance I think he’s got. On grass court particularly, he’s playing very well. But he’s also played well on the other surfaces. It’s just that I think his game is more suitable for the quicker surfaces,” Djokovic said. “Judging by the past couple of months, past couple matches I’ve seen, he’s been feeling the backhand really well. So, obviously, most of the players are trying to attack that vulnerable side of his game.

“But he mixes it up really well with the slice. He blocks a lot of returns and gets back into play and he moves extremely well. I think he’s one of the fittest guys on the Tour. So that helps him, always being in the right position.”

Watch Highlights Of Dimitrov’s Lone Win Vs. Djokovic

Dimitrov has turned his season around in a major way. At the US Open, he was World No. 78, his lowest mark since 28 May 2012. But he made the semi-finals in Flushing Meadows, and is projected to return to the Top 20 regardless of whether he defeats Djokovic.

Did You Know?
Nadal will return to No. 1 on Monday regardless of the results for the rest of the tournament.

Doubles Semi-finals
Ivan Dodig and Filip Polasek clinched the final spot at the Nitto ATP Finals on Friday. And now, they will try to reach the Paris final. The eighth seeds will face unseeded Russians Karen Khachanov and Andrey Rublev.

In the other semi-final, two more Nitto ATP Finals qualifiers will be in action. This year’s Australian Open champions, Pierre-Hugues Herbert and Nicolas Mahut, will battle reigning Roland Garros titlists Kevin Krawietz and Andreas Mies.

Kevin Krawietz and Andreas Mies booked their spot in the Rolex Paris Masters semi-finals on Friday, beating Jamie Murray and Neal Skupski 6-4, 6-4.

The German pairing, who did not face a break point throughout the 70-minute encounter, won 80 per cent of service points (40/50) to advance. Krawietz and Mies entered the tournament with a 1-3 record in ATP Masters 1000 play, having made their debut at the level at the Coupe Rogers in August.

The Roland Garros champions will need to beat home favourites Pierre-Hugues Herbert and Nicolas Mahut if they are to reach their fourth tour-level championship match of the season (3-0). Herbert and Mahut defeated countrymen Jeremy Chardy and Fabrice Martin 6-3, 7-5 to reach the last four.

In the top half of the draw, Ivan Dodig and Filip Polasek booked their places in the semi-finals with a 6-3, 6-7(5), 10-7 victory against Rajeev Ram and Joe Salisbury. The Croatian/Slovakian team, who clinched the final spot in the Nitto ATP Finals doubles field today, saved both break points they faced during the one-hour, 40-minute clash.

If you head to a tournament hotel when the ATP Tour is in town, many times players can be found in their rooms studying tapes on a future opponent, watching tennis and other sports on television, or even playing video games. But if there’s a grand piano around, don’t be surprised if #NextGenATP Frenchman Ugo Humbert is at the keys.

“I started with my sister. At the same time, I started tennis,” said Humbert, who is ready to compete in the Next Gen ATP Finals for the first time. “I love music. I play a little bit of electric guitar, but I’m better at piano.”

Humbert began playing the piano when he was five. From the age of 12, when he trained with the French Federation in Poitiers, to when he later began practising in Paris, there was always one constant in the Frenchman’s life: a piano in his room. When the mild-mannered lefty’s days would come to an end, he’d sit down and play.

“When you play piano, you are only with you,” Humbert said. “It’s great to have the time to be alone, to enjoy. In tennis, it’s the opposite.” 

The same way tennis players lock into a ‘zone’ on the court, Humbert gets into a ‘zone’ dancing across the keys. The 21-year-old, who was the last player to miss out on a spot in the Next Gen ATP Finals last year, doesn’t have one song he likes playing the most. But he favours ‘Boogie Boogie’ as well as the theme songs for Titanic and James Bond.

Is Humbert tennis’ version of James Bond? That idea elicits a laugh from the Milan qualifier. Humbert does not see himself as anyone else.

“I’m Ugo,” Humbert said, cracking a smile.

But back home in France, people tell him that he has almost a throwback game.

“I’m an aggressive player. I serve well, have a good, flat backhand and I can go to the net to finish the point,” Humbert said. “They compare me to Guy Forget and Henri Leconte, I’m a mix.”

Frenchman Pierre-Hugues Herbert first played Humbert on the ATP Challenger Tour last July, before the #NextGenATP star cracked the Top 200 of the ATP Rankings for the first time. Humbert defeated Herbert in straight sets, and then did so again less than three months later to win the Ortisei Challenger, using that result to earn himself a spot inside the world’s Top 100 for the first time. 

“He almost has no weaknesses. He can do almost everything and when he has a small weakness, he’s working on it… He has a really good serve, an amazing backhand, a really solid forehand, he’s an aggressive player. He takes some time off you and it’s really tough to play against him,” Herbert said. “I think one of the most important things for him is going to be to stay fit because I think he has the energy to work and he wants to be better and you can see it day-by-day when he’s training.”

Humbert has shown plenty of progress in 2019, reaching his first three ATP Tour semi-finals. But perhaps Humbert’s biggest breakthrough came at Wimbledon. In just his first tour-level season competing on grass, the Frenchman came from two sets down against countryman Gael Monfils in the first round and later ousted fellow #NextGenATP player Felix Auger-Aliassime in the third round before bowing out to eventual champion Novak Djokovic.

“It was a great experience. I played three times on Court 1. It was just unbelievable,” Humbert said. “There were a lot of people. I’m very happy to see the public and get to entertain the crowd.”

In his next tournament, Humbert kept his momentum going on the grass in Newport, where he made his second tour-level semi-final. The lefty was just two points away from making his maiden final at that level against big-serving American John Isner, who was highly complimentary of his opponent.

“He serves very well. He’s a very effective server, a lefty, and he’s playing with a lot of confidence,” Isner said. “He’s only 21 years old, so that [confidence] comes with winning matches. He’s growing in confidence and growing in belief.”

Humbert has climbed as high as World No. 46 this year, a marked improvement considering this time two years ago he was barely inside the Top 500. And according to Herbert, Humbert still has plenty of room to grow.

“That’s what’s nice about him: you have no idea where he can stop. I think he can be an amazing player. I think he has a lot to achieve yet. He was not far from going to the final in Newport, he played the second week at Wimbledon,” Herbert said. “I think he can go far.”

This season has been Humbert’s first on the ATP Tour, and he has greatly enjoyed getting to travel to different cities and see the tournaments he has heard about growing up. And the more time Humbert spends under the spotlight, the more he will get used to competing against the best players in the world, which is something that he embraces.

“I enjoy every moment to play on the big courts,” Humbert said. “That’s why I play tennis.”

At his roots though, Humbert is the guy you can find at the hotel piano, manouevring his fingers along the keys. As devastating as his game could be off the court, he is equally elegant off of it, and that shows in his kind, polite personality, too.

“One of the things you can feel with him is he is really nice,” Herbert said. “What I can feel is his humility and his humility also brings him the energy to go back to work and to get better every day and I think it’s one of the things that helped him make some big progress.”

Twenty-year-old Spaniard Alejandro Davidovich Fokina will make his debut at the Next Gen ATP Finals in Milan. The Spaniard will replace Denis Shapovalov, who withdrew from the event due to fatigue.

Davidovich Fokina has rapidly climbed the ATP Rankings this season. After beginning 2019 at World No. 237, the Spaniard cracked the Top 100 for the first time two weeks ago.

The field is set in Milan, with the 21-and-under season finale taking place at the Allianz Cloud from 5-9 November.

“So sorry to all my fans that will not see me play in Milan,” Shapovalov wrote on Twitter. “I was really excited to go and play, but unfortunately it will just be too much for me to handle. I’ve had an amazing end to the year, playing more matches than expected. My team and I have made the decision that I need to rest after Paris as my body will not be able to handle another week. Thank you so much for your support.”

Update on Milan ? thanks for your support ?? pic.twitter.com/N7wKhJmZJf

— Denis Shapovalov (@denis_shapo) November 1, 2019

Denis Shapovalov ended Gael Monfils’ Nitto ATP Finals qualification hopes on Friday, beating the Frenchman 6-2, 6-2 at the Rolex Paris Masters.

“It was one of those matches where nothing was really going wrong for me,” said Shapovalov. “I felt like any shot I hit was finding its way into the court… Everything went for me, so I am super happy to get the win.”

In front of a passionate French crowd at the AccorHotels Arena, the 20-year-old dropped just two points behind his first serve (23/25) to overcome the two-time Paris runner-up after 59 minutes. Shapovalov has won eight of nine matches during the European indoor swing, building on an impressive run to his maiden ATP Tour crown at the Intrum Stockholm Open two weeks ago.

“I feel like with that title with Stockholm, it kind of gave me a sense of calmness, relief,” said Shapovalov. “I’ve just been able to enjoy the last couple weeks of the season and, because of that, I feel like I’ve been able to play really well.”

Shapovalov’s victory denies Monfils a second appearance at the Nitto ATP Finals in London. The 2016 qualifier needed to reach the semi-finals in the French capital to claim the eighth and final qualification spot. Matteo Berrettini completes the field at the elite eight-man event to be held from 10-17 November at The O2.

Shapovalov improves to 4-0 in ATP Masters 1000 quarter-finals after levelling his FedEx ATP Head2Head series against Monfils at 1-1. The Canadian will attempt to reach his first final at the level when he meets Rafael Nadal on Saturday. Shapovalov owns a 1-1 FedEx ATP Head2Head record against the Spaniard.

“I’ve beaten both of them before, but they’re unbelievable players, and they’ve beaten me as well. It’s going to be a tough match,” said Shapovalov. “They’ve been having amazing weeks, and they’re both playing some really good tennis. So hopefully we can have an exciting match.”

Shapovalov silenced the crowd in Bercy with a rapid start, breaking twice en route to a 4-1 lead. The World No. 28 played with aggression on his backhand side and capitalised on multiple errors from Monfils, who attempted to shorten points with visits to the net.

After converting his third set point with an ace up the T, Shapovalov earned his third and fourth breaks of serve to establish a 3-0 lead in the second set. The Stockholm champion flattened his groundstokes to rush Monfils and whipped forehands on the run to overcome the Frenchman’s attempts to close the net. Shapovalov ended the match with the same stroke that clinched the first set — an ace up the T — to book his last-four spot.

Monfils ends his ATP Tour season with a 37-18 record. The 33-year-old lifted his eighth ATP Tour title at the ABN AMRO World Tennis Tournament in Rotterdam and also reached semi-finals in Montreal, Vienna, Dubai and Sofia.

“To be honest, Denis outplayed me,” said Monfils. “It wasn’t the best match I played. But I think I couldn’t have [done much] better today. I gave everything I had, and Denis was just too good for me today.”

The eight-player singles field for the 2019 Nitto ATP Finals is set. Matteo Berrettini clinched the final spot at the prestigious season-ending tournament, to be held from 10-17 November at The O2 in London, following results at the Rolex Paris Masters on Friday.

The 23-year-old Berrettini is the first Italian player to qualify for the Nitto ATP Finals in singles since Corrado Barazzutti in 1978, when the event was contested in New York City. Adriano Panatta, who played at Stockholm in 1975, was the first Italian to compete at the season finale. Bolelli and fellow Italian Fabio Fognini competed together in the 2015 doubles competition.

Eight different countries are represented at the Nitto ATP Finals for the fourth consecutive year. Berrettini joins fellow debutants Daniil Medvedev of Russia and Greece’s Stefanos Tsitsipas alongside former qualifiers Rafael Nadal of Spain, Serbia’s Novak Djokovic, Roger Federer of Switzerland, Austria’s Dominic Thiem and defending champion Alexander Zverev of Germany. It will be the first time that there will be four players aged 23 & under in the season finale since 2009 — Juan Martin del Potro (21), Djokovic (22), Andy Murray (22) and Nadal (23).

Chris Kermode, ATP Executive Chairman and President, said: “This year looks to be one of the most interesting player fields in the history of the tournament with the established superstars of the ATP Tour challenged by the next generation. The longevity of the Tour’s global icons combined with the impressive rise of the future stars of our sport over the past couple of years has made for a fascinating spectacle. It’s all to play for in London.”

Buy Your London Tickets

Berrettini, who was World No. 57 on 11 March, has soared up the ATP Rankings this year to a career-high No. 9 (28 October) with more than 40 match wins for the first time in his career. This year, the Monte-Carlo resident won two ATP Tour titles at the Hungarian Open in Budapest (d. Krajinovic) in April and at the MercedesCup in Stuttgart (d. Auger-Aliassime) in June. He reached the BMW Open by FWU final in Munich (l. to Garin) in May, and also captured his third ATP Challenger Tour title in Phoenix (d. Kukushkin) in March.

In recent months, Berrettini became the second Italian man to reach the US Open semi-finals (l. to eventual champion Nadal) — and the fourth to advance to the last four of a Grand Slam championship, following in the footsteps of Barazzutti, Panatta and Marco Cecchinato. Earlier this month, he beat two Top 10 players (No. 5 Thiem, No. 10 Bautista Agut) en route to his first ATP Masters 1000 semi-final at the Rolex Shanghai Masters.

The eight-team doubles field for the Nitto ATP Finals is led by Wimbledon and US Open champions Juan Sebastian Cabal and Robert Farah, who have already clinched year-end No. 1 for 2019. Lukasz Kubot and Marcelo Melo, Raven Klaasen and Michael Venus, Kevin Krawietz and Andreas Mies, Jean-Julien Rojer and Horia Tecau, Rajeev Ram and Joe Salisbury, Pierre-Hugues Herbert and Nicolas Mahut, and Ivan Dodig and Filip Polasek have also clinched their berths at The O2 in London.

2019 DRAW CEREMONY:
The draw for the 2019 Nitto ATP Finals will be made on Tuesday, 5 November and will be streamed live via the official ATP Tour Facebook page. Further details will be published in due course.

2019 GROUP NAMES:
The Finals Club, an initiative launched by the ATP in 2015 as a way of celebrating the past champions and heritage of the season-ending tournament since its inception in 1970, has honoured former champions through the naming of groups over the past four years. This year’s groups will be named as follows:

In singles:
– Group A will be named in honour of Andre Agassi, the 1990 winner and 14-time qualifier. 
– Group B will be named in honour of Bjorn Borg, the 1979 and 1980 winner.

In doubles:
– Group A will be named in honour of Max Mirnyi, the 2006 and 2011 winner.
– Group B will be named in honour of Jonas Bjorkman, the 1994 and 2006 winner.

The ATP’s crown jewel event is to be held at The O2 in London through to 2020, where it has been staged to wide acclaim since 2009. The event has successfully established itself as one of the major annual sporting events worldwide, broadcast in more than 180 territories with global viewership figures reaching an average of 95 million each year.

Alejandro Davidovich Fokina will compete at the 2019 Next Gen ATP Finals in Milan. The Spaniard entered the field on Friday after Denis Shapovalov withdrew due to fatigue from the award-winning 21-and under tournament, which starts Tuesday at the Allianz Cloud in Milan.

Here are five things to know about the 20-year-old Davidovich Fokina.

1. He has a unique game
Forget enduring baseline rallies that are common throughout today’s game; Davidovich Fokina prefers the drop shot. During his run to the Millennium Estoril Open semi-finals in May, the then-19-year-old executed the shot often to beat France’s Gael Monfils and make the last four (l. to Cuevas).

Davidovich Fokina became the youngest Spaniard to reach an ATP Tour semi-final since 19-year-old Rafael Nadal won the 2006 Barcelona Open Banc Sabadell title.

“I had to play smart against [Monfils] and the drop shot is my best shot and I had to use it a lot against him,” Davidovich Fokina told ATPTour.com. “[I learned it] when I was three years old. It’s a part of me.”

Watch Hot Shot: Davidovich Fokina Is Drop Shot King In Estoril

2. A late surge brings him to Milan
On 21 October, Davidovich Fokina was 13^th in the ATP Race To Milan, with 554 points. But by 28 October, when the Race ended, Davidovich Fokina had climbed into 10^th place (627 points), thanks to his second ATP Challenger Tour title of the season at the 2019 Liuzhou Open in China.

The Spaniard beat Uzbekistan’s Denis Istomin in the Liuzhou final. Istomin famously upset six-time champion Novak Djokovic in the second round of the 2017 Australian Open after four hours, 48 minutes. Davidovich Fokina also won the Seville ATP Challenger Tour event in September, beating countryman and 2018 Next Gen ATP Finals semi-finalist Jaume Munar.

“With Jaume, there are always those nerves because I know he is a very consistent player. He doesn’t miss any shots. I started a little more nervous, but in the second set I was more explosive and aggressive. I have relied much more on myself, and I also wanted to not lose a fourth final,” Davidovich Fokina said.

Watch: Monfils Shows Sportsmanship To Davidovich Fokina

3. He is a Wimbledon champion
Davidovich Fokina won the 2017 Wimbledon boys’ singles title, beating Argentina’s Axel Geller in the final. He became only the second junior Wimbledon champion from Spain and the first in 50 years (Manuel Orantes, 1967).

“I’m very happy to be the second [Spanish] junior champion of Wimbledon. I’m in shock,” Davidovich Fokina told Wimbledon.com. “I was thinking, ‘Okay, I want to win this. I want to show the people who I am, that I want to play tennis, professional tennis. I want to show them what I want to do with my life.’”

More On Davidovich Fokina
#NextGenATP First-Time Winner: Spaniard Claims Seville Title
Davidovich Fokina Breaks Through In Estoril
Davidovich Fokina Reflects On Top 100 Breakthrough

4. He is optimistic about his future
Davidovich Fokina checked off two massive goals in 2019: Cracking the Top 100 of the ATP Rankings and securing direct entry into the main draw of the 2020 Australian Open. The Spaniard started the season at No. 237 in the ATP Rankings but shaved 155 places off his ATP Ranking and will enter Milan at a career-high No. 82.

“Breaking through [into the Top 100] is a huge step,” he told ATPTour.com. “I see big things in my future. Even though it’s been a tough battle this year with lots of ups and downs, I’m trying to finish the season with strong results.”

5. He is gracious and loyal to his longtime coach
Davidovich Fokina credits his longtime coach Jorge Aguirre for much of his success. Aguirre has coached Davidovich Fokina since he was a child.

“I’ve had a great team backing me from the start,” says Davidovich Fokina. “They push me to learn and to grow every day. They’ve helped to build me into the player I become when I step on the court.”

After emphatically snapping a six-match winless record in the third round of the Rolex Paris Masters on Thursday, Grigor Dimitrov claimed another straight-sets victory to book his place in the semi-finals on Friday.

Backing up his impressive 72-minute win against Dominic Thiem, the Bulgarian survived a late test to move past Cristian Garin 6-2, 7-5 in 89 minutes. Dimitrov is through to his first ATP Masters 1000 semi-final since the Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters in April 2018.

Since dropping the opening set in his first-round match against Ugo Humbert, Dimitrov has claimed eight consecutive sets to improve to 13-7 at the ATP Masters 1000 event. The 28-year-old is through to his second semi-final of the year after making his third Grand Slam semi-final appearance at the US Open in September.

Dimitrov will meet Novak Djokovic or Stefanos Tsitsipas for a spot in the championship match. The World No. 27 owns one victory from nine FedEx ATP Head2Head encounters against Djokovic and is yet to meet Tsitsipas on the ATP Tour. Dimitrov will be aiming to reach his first final since a runner-up finish at last year’s ABN AMRO World Tennis Tournament (l. to Federer).

Dimitrov started quickly, attacking Garin’s forehand and playing with variety to jump into a 3-0 lead. Dropping just four points behind his first serve (16/20), the eight-time ATP Tour titlist maintained his advantage to 5-2 before dictating play with his forehand to earn a second break and, with it, the first set.

After trading breaks early in the second set, Garin capitalised on a series of errors from Dimitrov to serve for the set at 5-4. But the Bulgarian raised his level to move through to the semi-finals. Dimitrov played with aggression on his forehand and varied the pace on his backhand to earn three straight games and a place in the last four.

Garin ends his breakthrough season on the ATP Tour with a 31-22 record. The 23-year-old became the first Chilean to win an ATP Tour trophy since Fernando Gonzalez in 2009, lifting ATP 250 crowns on clay in Houston and Munich.