Tuesday Preview & Schedule: Khachanov Begins Paris Title Defence

Karen Khachanov finished last year with a flourish by stunning World No. 1 Novak Djokovic for his first ATP Masters 1000 crown at the Rolex Paris Masters. The Russian begins his quest for a successful title defence on Tuesday against Jan-Lennard Struff as he looks to keep his hopes alive for a maiden appearance at the season-ending Nitto ATP Finals.

Khachanov, currently No. 16 in the ATP Race to London with 1,830 points, must take the title in order to have a chance to appear at The O2 in London from 10-17 November. He defeated Struff in their lone FedEx ATP Head2Head meeting this June on the grass courts of Halle. Although Khachanov hasn’t reached an ATP Tour final this year, he’s enjoyed plenty of success in the City of Lights and his powerful game is well-suited for the fast courts at the AccorHotels Arena.

Another London hopeful, sixth seed Alexander Zverev, starts his week against veteran Spaniard Fernando Verdasco. The German is seventh in the Race (2,855) and will clinch a chance to defend his title in London by reaching the final in Paris. Although Verdasco leads their FedEx ATP Head2Head rivalry 2-1, they haven’t faced off in more than two years. The Spaniard is making his 16th consecutive appearance at this event.

#NextGenATP Aussie Alex de Minaur is also still alive in his bid for a debut appearance at The O2, but has to win his first Masters 1000 crown to stay in contention. He kicks off his campaign against Serbian Laslo Djere. De Minaur has won nine of his past 12 matches, including a runner-up finish last week in Basel (l. to Federer) and his third ATP Tour crown of the season last month in Zhuhai (d. Mannarino).

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Fourth seed Daniil Medvedev looks to continue his winning ways against French qualifier Jeremy Chardy. The pair are tied 1-1 in their FedEx ATP Head2Head rivalry. Medvedev has reached the final of his past six ATP Tour events and arrives on a nine-match winning streak that includes titles at the Rolex Shanghai Masters (d. Zverev) and St. Petersburg Open (d. Coric). The Russian is aiming to become the first player to complete the Cincinnati-Shanghai-Paris triple.

Other notable matches include #NextGenATP Canadian Denis Shapovalov taking on home favourite Gilles Simon and Bulgarian Grigor Dimitrov squaring off against Ugo Humbert. The 21-year-old Humbert has clinched his place at the Next Gen ATP Finals in Milan from 5-9 November.

ORDER OF PLAY – TUESDAY 29 October 2019
COURT CENTRAL start 11:00 am
Dusan Lajovic (SRB) vs [LL] Corentin Moutet (FRA)
[8] Karen Khachanov (RUS) vs Jan-Lennard Struff (GER)
Gilles Simon (FRA) vs Denis Shapovalov (CAN)
Grigor Dimitrov (BUL) vs [WC] Ugo Humbert (FRA)

Not Before 7:30 pm
[4] Daniil Medvedev (RUS) vs [Q] Jeremy Chardy (FRA)
[5] Alexander Zverev (GER) vs Fernando Verdasco (ESP)

Court 1 start 11:00 am
Frances Tiafoe (USA) vs Taylor Fritz (USA)
Alex de Minaur (AUS) vs Laslo Djere (SRB)
Kyle Edmund (GBR) vs [Q] Ricardas Berankis (LTU)
Radu Albot (MDA) vs [LL] Andreas Seppi (ITA)
[7] Pierre-Hugues Herbert (FRA) / Nicolas Mahut (FRA) vs [WC] Adrian Mannarino (FRA) / Gilles Simon (FRA)

Click here to view the rest of Tuesday’s schedule