Novak Djokovic tightened his grip on the ATP Year-End No. 1 presented by Pepperstone honour Wednesday when he moved past Tomas Martin Etcheverry 6-3, 6-2 to reach the third round at the Rolex Paris Masters.

The World No. 1 leads Carlos Alcaraz by 580 points in the Pepperstone ATP Live Race To Turin and could extended his advantage to 1,495 points by winning a record-extending seventh title in Paris-Bercy after the Spaniard lost in his opening match on Tuesday.

In front of a packed crowd on Court Central, Djokovic was in complete control against Etcheverry, who has tracked his ATP Pepperstone Ranking position in comparison to the Serbian in recent years.

Started from the bottom now we here 📸 📈 pic.twitter.com/iBsAJM2YWm

— Tennis TV (@TennisTV) May 11, 2023

The 36-year-old hit with precision from the baseline, pulling the Argentine from corner to corner. He broke Etcheverry’s serve three times and committed just nine unforced errors to advance after one hour and 23 minutes. The 96-time tour-level champion holds a standout 46-9 record at the indoor hard-court event.

Djokovic is chasing a record-extending 40th ATP Masters 1000 title and will next play Dutchman Tallon Griekspoor. The top seed, who is 47-5 on the year, is competing in singles for the first time since the Davis Cup in September. He has lifted major trophies at the Australian Open, Roland Garros and US Open this year, while also triumphing in Cincinnati and Adelaide.

Stefanos Tsitsipas passed a stiff second-round test from the resurgent Felix Auger-Aliassime on Wednesday at the Rolex Paris Masters, where the Greek’s serving under pressure helped him seal a 6-3, 7-6(4) triumph.

Tsitsipas saved six of seven break points he faced in his one-hour, 48-minute victory to improve his Lexus ATP Head2Head record against Auger-Aliassime to 6-3. He rallied from 2-5 in the second set, fending off four set points overall before clinching his first win against the Canadian since 2021.

In it to WIN it 🫡@steftsitsipas saves FOUR set points in the second set before moving past Auger-Aliassime and into the third round! @RolexPMasters | #RolexParisMasters pic.twitter.com/v3FJ8QObrt

— ATP Tour (@atptour) November 1, 2023

Although last week’s Basel champion Auger-Aliassime fired 25 winners, including nine aces, to Tsitsipas’ 18 on Court Central, the seventh seed kept his cool to register his 49th tour-level win of 2023. The 25-year-old will next look to hit his half century for the season when he takes on 10th seed Alexander Zverev, who rallied from 2-4 in the third set to defeat Ugo Humbert 6-4, 6-7(3), 7-6(5) in three hours and 29 minutes and break the hearts of a passionate French crowd.

“I would love to have finished in two sets, but this added to the drama,” said the German, who saved 11 of 13 break points faced. “I’m very happy to be through. It was a fantastic and entertaining battle.” 

With Tsitsipas sixth in the Pepperstone ATP Race To Turin and Zverev seventh, Thursday’s match has significant implications for qualification for the Nitto ATP Finals.

Fellow Turin hopeful Hubert Hurkacz also enjoyed a second-round win on Wednesday in Paris, where he eased past Roberto Bautista Agut 6-3, 6-2 to advance. The Pole’s display included 19 aces, a tally which took him past 1000 aces in a single ATP Tour season for the first time.

The World No. 11 Hurkacz has now won 14 of his past 16 matches at ATP Masters 1000 events, a tally that includes a title run at the Rolex Shanghai Masters in October. His next opponent in Paris, where he reached the semi-finals in 2021, will be Francisco Cerundolo. The Argentine defeated Casper Ruud 7-5, 6-4 to end the Norwegian’s Nitto ATP Finals hopes.

Wednesday marked the end of another hopeful’s bid for a Turin spot. Botic van de Zandschulp downed Tommy Paul 6-4, 2-6, 6-3 to confirm the American is out of the running for a Nitto ATP Finals debut this year.

Van de Zandschulp has dropped just one set across four matches in Paris, where he came through qualifying. His next challenge in the French capital is a third-round meeting with fifth seed Andrey Rublev.

Hubert Hurkacz hit a milestone Wednesday at the Rolex Paris Masters, where he surpassed 1,000 aces this season during his second-round match against Roberto Bautista Agut.

The 26-year-old had 985 aces going into the match and hit an additional 19 on the day, becoming the first player to hit 1,000 aces in a season since Americans John Isner and Reilly Opelka in 2019, according to Infosys ATP Stats.

“I’m really excited about hitting 1,000 aces this season,” Hurkacz told ATPTour.com. “Hopefully there are still a couple more to come, but didn’t expect it at the beginning of the year, so definitely the serve has been working a little bit. Just excited, hopefully it’s going to help me to put a couple of more good results this year and really proud of the work with the whole team.”

At ninth in the Pepperstone ATP Live Race To Turin, Hurkacz is averaging 15 aces per match this season, in which he has claimed titles in Marseille and last month in Shanghai.

The 6’5” Pole is the first player shorter than 6’8″ to hit 1,000 aces since Canadian Milos Raonic fired 1,107 aces in 2014.

*ATP began recording ace tallies in 1991

Grigor Dimitrov dug deep to complete a prompt revenge job Wednesday at the Rolex Paris Masters.

The Bulgarian battled to a 6-3, 6-7(4), 7-6(2) triumph against Daniil Medvedev to reach the third round at the ATP Masters 1000 event in the French capital. Dimitrov led by a set before falling to defeat in the pair’s second-round clash in Vienna just six days ago, but he made no mistake this time around as he powered 48 winners to Medvedev’s 22 for his first victory against the World No. 3 since 2021.

Dimitrov struggled to serve out the match after maintaining the upper hand for much of the deciding set. He led 5-2 before letting slip four match points on his own serve at 5-4 and then another two on return at 6-5, but the World No. 17 kept his composure admirably to dominate the deciding tie-break and seal a two-hour, 54-minute win.

SEVEN match points later! 😜⭐️

Grigor Dimitrov | #RolexParisMasters pic.twitter.com/J9eL4wGEPg

— ATP Tour (@atptour) November 1, 2023

“At 5-4 and 40/15, I just didn’t go enough for my shots,” said Dimitrov. “That’s it, and against a player like him, he’s going to take it, simple as that. I could have done a few things differently. Obviously, it’s very different when you see it from the outside now, but I’m going to watch a little bit for sure.

“I want to see what I could have done a little bit better since I was playing a good game and to get up to 5-4, 40/15, I thought I played an excellent game with very good shot selection. It slipped there, but a good outcome in the end.”

Dimitrov had already shown great mental strength to move ahead in the third set after Medvedev had blunted the Bulgarian’s fast start with a rock-solid second-set showing. The 2020 Paris champion Medvedev could not carry that momentum into the decider, although he did not go down without a fight — the six match points he saved included a 47-shot rally that ended with Dimitrov netting a backhand.

“It’s extremely difficult,” said Dimitrov, when asked how he regathered himself after missing the match points. “You have to accept [it], there is not much to do. The moment has passed. In the end, I had to just remain in the game, looking after my shots and trying create some opportunities again.

“I knew I might have another one. We both were fairly tired. In the end we had some crazy rallies and amazing points. It came down to a few points here and there, just like the last match [in Vienna].”

Now 38-20 for the season, including a 6-10 record against Top 10 opponents, Dimitrov will take on Alexander Bublik next in Paris-Bercy, where he reached the semi-finals in 2019. The 32-year-old, who reached a championship match in Geneva earlier this year, is chasing his first ATP Tour title since he won the 2017 Nitto ATP Finals.

ATP & digital art platform Artchild have partnered to launch POSTERS, limited edition tennis posters customisable by fans. The collaboration kicks off at the season-ending Nitto ATP Finals (12-19 November) with an Official Poster by acclaimed artist Honor Titus.

Honor Titus is a visual artist based in Los Angeles, California. A passionate tennis fan and player of the sport, Titus often makes tennis the subject of his internationally exhibited paintings, using the game as a lens for broader reflection on society. His innovative collaboration with ATP and Artchild builds upon a longstanding tradition of iconic sporting posters, collected by fans across generations.

Nitto ATP Finals Official Poster by Honor Titus” />
^{© 2023 Nitto ATP Finals Official Poster by Honor Titus}
Fans will be able to customise and purchase their own versions of the Nitto ATP Finals Official Poster, using the Artchild digital canvas and artist-curated colour palettes. Each will come to life as a physical print, shipped to fans’ homes, paired with a digital collectible powered by Polygon. A selection of these fan-customised posters will go on to be showcased live at the Pala Alpitour arena, home of the Nitto ATP Finals.

The Official Poster and digital counterpart, in the original version designed by Honor Titus, will be available for purchase exclusively during the 2023 Nitto ATP Finals.

^{Honor Titus photographed at the Beverly Hills Tennis Club. © Mikayla Jean Miller 2023}

“Tennis inspires me deeply. It is so very rich with
history and elegant nuance that it makes for an
excellent subject for the artist. The lines between
intensity, order and insanity are as thick as the
service line.” – Honor Titus

The world’s top singles players competing at the 2023 Nitto ATP Finals will customise their own version of the Official Poster. These special one-of-a-kind versions will find their way to fans via an online auction during the tournament with all proceeds supporting an environmental sustainability initiative that promotes green spaces in the city of Turin.

ATP Director of Communications and Web3 Mark Epps said: “POSTERS is all about connecting fans with major moments in tennis. We were inspired by the idea of a creative experience that gives everyone a chance to be part of the story. And, to reimagine one of the most iconic collectibles in tennis culture: the tournament poster. We would like to thank Honor Titus and Artchild for bringing that vision to life.”

The 2023 Nitto ATP Finals Official Poster will be available for a limited time only, online and on site at the Nitto ATP Finals Fan Village during the tournament (12-19 November). Each poster, which includes a premium print and digital collectible, will be priced at $50 plus postage. Collectors of LOVE, the ATP’s digital art collection from the 2022 Nitto ATP Finals, will be eligible to claim one customisable poster per token.

To register for updates and to customise your Nitto ATP Finals Official Poster, visit www.artchild.com.

Carlos Alcaraz’s stunning opening-round loss at the Rolex Paris Masters on Tuesday had wider consequences than simply his elimination from the season’s final ATP Masters 1000 event. With the defeat, the Spaniard’s chances of earning a second consecutive ATP Year-End No. 1 presented by Pepperstone honour dropped significantly.

Six-time Paris champion Novak Djokovic now has an opportunity to press his advantage this week. The Serbian leads the Spaniard by 500 points in the Pepperstone ATP Live Race To Turin and could extend his lead to 1,495 points by lifting the trophy in Bercy. The Live Race serves as a barometer for the year-end No. 1 battle.

A gap that wide would nearly put the battle out of reach for Alcaraz with only one more week in the regular season (he has not entered the ATP 250 events in Metz or Sofia, but could accept a wild card) and then the Nitto ATP Finals, where a maximum of 1,500 points are up for grabs.

Pepperstone ATP Live Race To Turin (31 October)

Should Djokovic emerge victorious at the Rolex Paris Masters for the seventh time, he would be on the verge of extending his record of year-end No. 1 finishes to eight. The 36-year-old last accomplished the feat in 2021.

But if Djokovic suffers an early defeat, Alcaraz, who last year became the youngest ATP Year-End No. 1 presented by Pepperstone, would still have a chance to put pressure on his rival in Turin, home of the Nitto ATP Finals. Third-placed Daniil Medvedev is also still alive in the chase for year-end No. 1, although he is currently 1,755 points behind Djokovic in the Live Race.

Djokovic this week is competing for the first time since Davis Cup the week after he won the US Open. That time off provided Alcaraz an opportunity to make a move in the Live Race, but he has gone 5-3, losing in the semi-finals in Beijing, Round of 16 in Shanghai and the second round in Paris.

Djokovic will play Argentine Tomas Martin Etcheverry on Wednesday with the winner to play Dutchman Tallon Griekspoor for a place in the Paris quarter-finals.

Carlos Alcaraz had few complaints about how he struck the ball during his surprise opening-round loss to Roman Safiullin at the Rolex Paris Masters on Tuesday night. But his movement?That’s another story.

“I just didn’t feel well on the court,” the World No. 2 said. “A lot of things to improve, a lot of things to practise. I didn’t move well. In the shots, I think I had a good quality of shots. But physically in the part of movement, I have to improve a lot.”

Alcaraz, who was forced to pull out of Basel due to problems with his left foot and lower back, was competing for the first time since his defeat to Grigor Dimitrov 20 days ago in the Shanghai last 16.

Alcaraz’s let slip an early break of serve in both sets during his 6-3, 6-4 defeat to the World No. 45 in their first Lexus ATP Head2Head meeting. But having seen Safiullin’s dramatic rise from outside the Top 100 of the Pepperstone ATP Rankings since early May, the Spaniard said that he expected a tough fight against the Wimbledon quarter-finalist.

“He didn’t surprise me at all, because I knew that he has been playing a great level these last few months, beating big guys, reaching finals. I knew that he was going to play a high level,” he said.

Alcaraz slipped to 63-10 on the year, a match record that is still better than his 57-13 season that saw him finish last year as the ATP Year-End No. 1 presented by Pepperstone. He has won six titles across all three surfaces, including Wimbledon and ATP Masters 1000 titles in Indian Wells and Madrid.

The 20-year-old is next scheduled to play at the Nitto ATP Finals (12-19 November), where he will make his debut after missing last year’s event in Turin due to injury. He has almost two weeks to retool his game and find his movement working with coach Juan Carlos Ferrero.

“I have time before the ATP Finals, a lot of days of practice to be able to reach that level, the level that I want to play,” he said. “Honestly after the loss, I have to take some time before thinking about the next days… But obviously before the ATP Finals begin, we have time.”