Novak Djokovic will begin his quest for a record-extending seventh Rolex Paris Masters title Tuesday when he faces Maxime Cressy in the second round in the French capital.

The sixth-seeded Serbian has performed strongly at the final ATP Masters 1000 event of the season throughout his career, lifting the trophy in his previous two appearances in 2019 and 2021. Djokovic will face the American Cressy for the first time on Court Central and heads into the clash high in confidence.

View Schedule | View Singles Draw | View Doubles Draw

The former World No. 1 has won his past nine matches, lifting trophies in Tel Aviv and Astana in October. Djokovic, who will compete at the Nitto ATP Finals in November, will be looking to win a record-extending 39th Masters 1000 crown this week, having won his 38th title at this level in Rome in May.

“I feel great in this tournament,” Djokovic said in his pre-tournament press conference. “[I’ve had] lots of success. [It] always helps to come into the tournament confident and with some good memories, good emotions on the court. [The] past few times that I played here, I won both tournaments… Hopefully I can continue that run.”

Another upset from day 1⃣ in Paris

This one featured Cressy serving 🚀’s‼️

Serve Quality tour avg. 7.5/10#ShotQuality is calculated in real-time by analysing each shot’s speed, spin, depth, width, and the impact it has on the opponent#TennisInsights | @RolexPMasters https://t.co/tfroCqRtQi pic.twitter.com/zo9ceM8Z8k

— Tennis Insights (@tennis_insights) October 31, 2022

Andrey Rublev will look to boost his Nitto ATP Finals qualification chances when he plays John Isner in the second round in the opening match on Court Central. The 25-year-old is currently seventh in the Pepperstone ATP Live Race To Turin with 3,450 points.

Rublev, who occupies the final qualification spot, is 495 points ahead of eighth-placed American Taylor Fritz, who defeated Alejandro Davidovich Fokina in his opening match on Monday. Rublev’s task will be far from easy, though, with big-serving American Isner leading their ATP Head2Head series 3-0.

FOLLOW THIS WEEK’S ACTION

📺 TV Schedule
🎾 Watch Live On Tennis TV
📱 Follow Live Scores On ATP WTA Live
📧 Sign Up For Newsletters

Hubert Hurkacz will be ready to pounce if Rublev slips up, with the Pole taking on French wild card Adrian Mannarino in the first round. Hurkacz, currently on 2,870 points, is ninth in the Race.

The 25-year-old, who holds a 1-1 ATP Head2Head series record against Mannarino, made his debut in Turin last year. He will need a deep run in Paris if he is to return to the prestigious end-of-year event, to be held from 13-20 November.

In other action, third-seeded Norwegian Casper Ruud will take on French wild card Richard Gasquet, while #NextGenATP Dane Holger Rune plays Swiss star Stan Wawrinka. Earlier this season, Ruud reached the final in Miami before he advanced to Grand Slam championship matches at Roland Garros and the US Open.

Marc-Andrea Huesler did not hold back on his ATP Masters main draw debut on Monday afternoon. The Swiss qualifier delivered a high-quality first-round performance to take out 11th seed Jannik Sinner 6-2, 6-3 at the Rolex Paris Masters.

The 26-year-old Huesler lifted his maiden tour-level title on indoor hard courts in Sofia at the beginning of October but had gone 0-3 since. After defeating Hugo Gaston and Laslo Djere in qualifying in Paris, however, the lefty brought his big-serving, aggressive best to the clash against Sinner. He fired 20 winners, including six aces, to down the World No. 12 in 68 minutes.

“[It feels] really big,” said Huesler. “I’ve had a great season… I had two good matches in the qualies, I came out here and had nothing to lose today. That helped me play very aggressive. It was not his best match, for sure, but I had to be ready to take that [opportunity]. I just stayed at it, and I’m really happy with the win.”

First upset of the tournament 🚨

Swiss No.1 Marc-Andrea Huesler stuns No.11 seed Sinner 6-2 6-3 in the #RolexParisMasters R1! pic.twitter.com/X7YJQ7cdsX

— Tennis TV (@TennisTV) October 31, 2022

Huesler was the only player to win a set against eventual champion Felix Auger-Aliassime in Basel last week and the World No. 61 believes his level did not drop significantly despite his tough run of results post-Sofia. Having only broken the Top 100 of the Pepperstone ATP Rankings for the first time in July, he is now growing accustomed to performing on the biggest stages the ATP Tour has to offer.

“I think the experience these past weeks helped a lot,” said Huesler. “Last week I played a tough match against Felix [Auger-Aliassime] in Basel with a full crowd, which was full preparation for here. The centre court here is amazing, it was a lot of fun to play. I just tried to focus on the next point every time, got a bit lucky on some important points and made the right decisions in tight moments, and today I was better.”

Huesler’s second-round opponent in Paris will be Karen Khachanov. The 2018 champion needed little time on Monday to find his feet again in the French capital, where he raced to a 6-1, 6-1 first-round victory against Sebastian Baez. A challenging prospect for Huesler, but the Swiss admitted he was relishing the opportunity to take on another Top 20 star.

“Karen is a big server, for sure,” said Huesler. “I played against him once before in Davis Cup, lost in two sets there. Honestly every guy here is hard to beat, I’m thrilled to play against these guys. I’m here to do my best and I have a lot of confidence in my game. I’m sure the serve is going to be very important for both of us, so let’s see how it goes.”

Taylor Fritz dug deep to overcome a typically resilient Alejandro Davidovich Fokina on Monday in a Rolex Paris Masters first-round clash that carried extra meaning for the American.

Fritz trailed by a break in the first set and let slip a 2-0 lead in the second as Davidovich Fokina threatened an early upset against the 2021 quarter-finalist at the ATP Masters 1000 event. The ninth seed raised his level at key moments to resist the Spaniard’s charge, however, converting five of 10 break points to clinch a 7-5, 6-2 victory in 90 minutes on Court Central.

“[I’m] really happy, he’s a tough person to play against,” said Fritz after the match. “He’s got weapons on both sides. He’s extremely quick as well, so there’s nowhere you can really play with a lot of safety. He makes a lot of crazy shots and he’s beaten me the past two times, so definitely good to just get out there, play a solid match, and get through it.”

With the win, Fritz kept alive his hopes of qualifying for November’s Nitto ATP Finals for the first time. The 25-year-old is currently eighth in the Pepperstone ATP Live Race To Turin and he must reach the championship match in Paris to have a chance of leapfrogging Felix Auger-Aliassime or Andrey Rublev into a qualification spot for the season finale.

“Right now I’m just focused on kind of playing myself into the tournament,” said Fritz. “I feel like any time this year that I’ve won a couple of matches into a tournament, then I’ve done well. So I’ll just try to focus on these early rounds.

“Turin is still in the picture, obviously, but there’s not much else I really could have done. I won Tokyo… Felix has played really, really well, so he deserves it, but I am going to try to steal his spot this week for sure.“

Auger-Aliassime is a potential third-round opponent for Fritz, but the American will next turn his attention to a second-round clash against 2016 champion Andy Murray or home favourite Gilles Simon.

With one week of the regular season to go, Felix Auger-Aliassime looks in strong contention to qualify for the Nitto ATP Finals after he captured the title at the ATP 500 event in Basel.

ATPTour.com looks at the movers of the week in the Race following a two-tournament week on Tour.

View Pepperstone ATP Live Race To Turin Rankings

Sixth, Felix Auger-Aliassime, +1
The Canadian has jumped one spot to sixth in the Pepperstone ATP Live Race To Turin after he won his third consecutive tour-level trophy in Basel. The Canadian, who defeated #NextGenATP Dane Holger Rune in the final, is on 3,635 points, 725 points clear of eighth-placed American Taylor Fritz (2,910 points). The 22-year-old is aiming to make his debut at the prestigious end-of-year event, to be held from 13-20 November.

Pepperstone ATP Live Race To Turin (as of 31 October)

The ATP, International Tennis Federation (ITF) and Kosmos Tennis have today announced an unprecedented strategic alliance from 2023 supporting the Davis Cup by Rakuten. The men’s World Cup of Tennis is the longest-running and largest annual international team event in sport with 122 years of history.

The new partnership has been established to enable strategic collaboration on the competition’s governance and evolution, with ATP granted two of six seats on a newly formed Davis Cup Event Committee alongside the ITF and Kosmos, long-term investors and promoters of the competition. The partnership officially brings ATP and ITF together across Davis Cup for the first time in history in a combined effort to maximise the success of the historic team competition as the men’s World Cup of Tennis.

The Davis Cup Finals and Qualifier ties now become an official part of the 2023 ATP Tour calendar, taking place in weeks 5, 37 and 47, with increased promotion on ATP channels. This integration will support players in planning their annual schedule when selected to play in their national Davis Cup team. The Finals will continue under its existing format, offering $15 million in player prize money in 2023.

Andrea Gaudenzi, ATP Chairman: “Our focus is always on creating the best possible experiences for our fans and players. Delivering compelling international team competitions that dovetail with the year-round calendar and continue to innovate is a vital part of that. The Davis Cup has an incredibly rich history and we’re excited to see this important new alliance drive the event forward from 2023.”

David Haggerty, ITF President: “This announcement heralds an important new alliance between the ITF, Kosmos and ATP which further strengthens the importance of team competition and Davis Cup’s unique role in elite men’s professional tennis. Part of the Olympic Qualification Pathway, Davis Cup is the largest annual men’s team competition in sport and the sole men’s team competition in the pro tennis calendar where teams are officially selected by their nation. Together with the women’s Billie Jean King Cup, it shows the ITF’s full commitment to delivering spectacular tournaments that players love to play and electrifying battles between nations which fans in the stadium and whole countries love to get behind.”

Enric Rojas, Kosmos Tennis CEO: “It is a very important agreement for all three parties and especially for the players. In the last three years, the format of the competition has been improved to reach a greater number of fans, generate a greater impact and facilitate the participation of the best players in the world. We look forward to seeing the event grow even further in the coming years.”

Davis Cup recorded its highest levels of national participation in its history in 2022, with 137 nations competing in this year’s edition across all levels of the competition. The ITF’s Davis Cup runs alongside its sibling, the women’s World Cup of Tennis, Billie Jean King Cup by Gainbridge.

Further information about the 2022 Davis Cup by Rakuten Finals can be found here.

Two singles spots remain at the Nitto ATP Finals, with a four-way battle at this week’s Rolex Paris Masters deciding who among Felix Auger-Aliassime, Andrey Rublev, Taylor Fritz and Hubert Hurkacz will earn a place in Turin.

Auger-Aliassime and Rublev are in pole position to qualify for the season finale, which will take place from 13-20 November. But Fritz and Hurkacz, who are in eighth and ninth in the Pepperstone ATP Live Race To Turin, still have an opportunity to flip the script.

Fritz and Hurkacz need to make at least the final to have a chance to earn their spot in Turin. But since Fritz could play Auger-Aliassime in the third round and Hurkacz could face Rublev, they have an opportunity to eliminate the contenders ahead of them in the Live Race.

Pepperstone ATP Live Race To Turin (as of 31 October)

Nobody is in better form than sixth-placed Auger-Aliassime, who has won titles in Florence, Antwerp and Basel over the past three weeks. Prior to his 13-match winning streak, the Canadian had won only one title in his career, which came earlier this season in Rotterdam. He has 3,635 points in the Live Race, putting him 725 points clear of eighth-placed Fritz.

The only way Auger-Aliassime will not debut at the year-end championships, even if he loses his opening match in Paris, is if Fritz wins the title and defeats Rublev in the semi-finals.

It is a more complicated situation for Rublev, since he is in the final qualifying spot. If Fritz lifts the title, Rublev must advance to the semi-finals, where he would face the American.

If Hurkacz lifts the trophy, Rublev would not be able to move past the third round as they would clash in that round. That would eliminate the two-time qualifier Rublev from contention if Hurkacz continued on to take the title.

The two players who earn qualification will join Rafael Nadal, Carlos Alcaraz, Casper Ruud, Stefanos Tsitsipas, Novak Djokovic and Daniil Medvedev in the field.

With the pressure on, Taylor Fritz will need to deliver on Day One at the Rolex Paris Masters if he is to keep alive his chances of qualifying for the Nitto ATP Finals.

The American arrives at the final ATP Masters 1000 event of the season eighth in the Pepperstone ATP Live Race To Turin, holding 2,910 points. The 24-year-old is currently 525 points behind seventh-placed Andrey Rublev. The prestigious end-of-year event will be held from 13-20 November.

View Schedule | View Singles Draw  | View Doubles Draw

Fritz’s first test in the French capital comes against Alejandro Davidovich Fokina Monday on Court Central. However, the four-time tour-level titlist will need to do something he has never done and earn a maiden victory against the Spaniard, with Davidovich Fokina leading Fritz 2-0 in their ATP Head2Head series.

In the evening, Gilles Simon will receive a standing ovation when he steps on court in Paris for potentially the final time. The French wild card will play Andy Murray on Court Central in what could be his last tour-level match, with the 37-year-old retiring at the end of the season.

Simon, who earned his 500th tour-level win earlier this year at Roland Garros, will be making his 16th appearance on home soil, with his best result being a run to the semi-finals in 2012. The 2016 champion Murray leads Simon 16-2 in their ATP Head2Head series, with their first meeting coming in 2007.

Other intriguing first-round matches Monday include 12th seed Cameron Norrie taking on Miomir Kecmanovic, while 11th seed Jannik Sinner faces Swiss qualifier Marc-Andrea Huesler. Norrie, who has won two tour-level titles this season, leads the Serbian Kecmanovic 1-0 in their ATP Head2Head series.

#NextGenATP Italian Lorenzo Musetti will compete at the Intesa Sanpaolo Next Gen ATP Finals in November. However, before he makes the journey to Milan, he will look to light up Paris, starting against 15th seed Marin Cilic. The Croatian Cilic has fond memories in the French capital, having advanced to the semi-finals in 2016.

Novak Djokovic has enjoyed great success at the Rolex Paris Masters throughout his career. The Serbian has won the title a record six times, including in his past two appearances in 2019 and 2021.

Arriving in Paris as the sixth seed this week, Djokovic revealed on Sunday that he is excited to challenge for the crown again at the final ATP Masters 1000 event of the season.

“I feel great in this tournament,” Djokovic said in his pre-tournament press conference. “As you mentioned, [I’ve had] lots of success. [It] always helps to come into the tournament confident and with some good memories, good emotions on the court. [The] past few times that I played here, I won both tournaments… Hopefully I can continue that run.

“I think at this level it’s important to have a good feeling on the court and just good memory of coming to a place where you have done well, because tennis is a game of fine margins that decide who is going to take a win in the match,” Djokovic later added. “Oftentimes, how you feel mentally, whether you are fighting with your own demons inside in a good or bad way affects the end result. Here I always felt good.”

The former World No. 1 is competing at his fourth event since he captured his 21st Grand Slam title at Wimbledon in July. Since then, Djokovic has triumphed at consecutive tour-level events in Tel Aviv and Astana, winning his past nine matches.

“I played Laver Cup, Tel Aviv, and Astana, and I played great, great tennis,” Djokovic said. “Generally looking at my past career results indoors, I have had a really good record indoors generally, playing anywhere.

“I’ll make sure to keep going in this way, because I feel good. I have been training the past few days, is another few days to my first match. I think coming back to a place where you have done so well, it always brings back good memories and good feelings on the court.”

Djokovic, who will compete at the Nitto ATP Finals in November, feels that the conditions on court in Paris are faster this year, with the 38-time ATP Masters 1000 champion looking to adjust quickly.

“For a big server, those guys, I guess they would prefer quick conditions,” Djokovic said when analysing the conditions. “For someone who is staying at the back of the court and playing with a lot of spin, they like things to be slower.

“I don’t think there is a golden formula, to be honest with you. And remembering all the years that I played here in Bercy, there were years when it was really quick, then medium quick, medium slow, slow last year. Now back to medium quick.”

Djokovic will begin his title defence in Paris against Argentine Diego Schwartzman or Maxime Cressy.

In a battle between two previously impenetrable serves on Sunday at the Swiss Indoors Basel, it was Felix Auger-Aliassime who held firm.

Neither the Canadian nor Holger Rune had been broken en route to the championship match at the ATP 500 event in Switzerland, but Auger-Aliassime twice unpicked the Dane’s delivery to seal a 6-3, 7-5 victory and lift his third consecutive ATP Tour title.

It was Auger-Aliassime’s 13th consecutive tour-level win, extending his personal-best winning streak. The one-hour, 40-minute triumph also lifted the 22-year-old one spot to sixth in the Pepperstone ATP Live Race To Turin.

“It’s been an amazing week,” said Auger-Aliassime after the match. “Once again in the final, not getting broken all week… [It’s been] a long year, a long stretch of wins, and it’s not over. So hopefully I can keep going, but right now I’m feeling all the good emoitons that come with winning a tournament. It’s amazing.”

Having now leapfrogged Andrey Rublev, the Canadian’s red-hot form has put him a strong position to qualify for the Nitto ATP Finals for the first time. With seventh the last position to guarantee qualification for the season finale, Auger-Aliassime is now 725 points clear of eighth-placed Taylor Fritz as the player’s head to this week’s Rolex Paris Masters.

Auger-Aliassime is the third player to win an ATP Tour title without dropping a service game in 2022. Taylor Fritz and Nick Kyrgios have also achieved that feat with their triumphs in Eastbourne and Washington, respectively.

More to follow…