Novak Djokovic ended a run of four consecutive defeats at Masters 1000 tournaments on Tuesday in Paris. In the first round of the Paris Masters, he defeated Monaco’s Valentin Vacherot, ranked 27th in the ATP rankings, with a score of 6-7 (5), 7-5, 6-1. The match lasted two hours and 35 minutes.
Djokovic’s last victory at a Masters 1000 tournament came at this year’s event in Indian Wells, where he was subsequently eliminated in the round of 16. Defeats in his first appearances at the tournaments in Rome, Cincinnati and Shanghai followed.
Vacherot arrived in Paris as the winner of the Basel tournament, and he had beaten Djokovic last year in the semi-finals of the Shanghai Masters. “I knew it would be a very uncertain match. He plays with a lot of confidence and is one of the best servers on Tour,” Djokovic said after the encounter. In his victory, he had to overcome a deficit of one set and a break.
Djokovic is a seven-time winner of the Paris Masters, but this year he had to play in the first round for the first time since 2005. At that time, he was ranked 85th in the ATP singles rankings, and his ranking was not high enough to place him among the eight seeds who were exempt from the first round. Djokovic had not been at the Paris Masters for three years, and this was his first appearance on the court at the Plenitude Arena. The tournament moved to the Plenitude Arena last year, while from 1986 to 2024 it was held at Bercy (AccorHotels Arena).
Djokovic is currently in 11th place in the Race to Turin. Jannik Sinner has finished his appearances for this season, and Flavio Cobolli is injured and his participation in the final tournament is in doubt. Djokovic is actually ninth, meaning he is the first player outside the cut-off for qualification to the ATP Finals. Alex de Minaur, who is first ahead of Djokovic, has a lead of 230 points and is a potential opponent for Djokovic in the third round. Taylor Fritz is only 40 points behind Djokovic, while Tommy Paul has 165 fewer points.
To qualify for the third round, Djokovic will face Australian qualifier Rinky Hijikata, ranked 83rd in the ATP rankings. In other first-round matches, Learner Tien (USA/15) defeated Daniel Valle (Par) 6-3, 5-7, 7-5, and Tomas Etcheverry (Arg) beat Andrei Rublev 6-4, 6-7 (4), 7-6 (3). Arthur Rinderknech (Fra) defeated Francisco Cerundolo (Arg/16) 3-6, 7-6 (2), 2-0 due to retirement, while Tommy Paul (USA/12) was better than Holger Rune (Den) 7-5, 6-4.
Quentin Halys (Fra) defeated Arthur Fery (GBR) 7-6 (6), 7-5, Jan-Lennard Struff (Ger) beat Arthur Gea (Fra) 7-6 (3), 6-3, and Nuno Borges (Por) was better than Moise Kouame (Fra) 6-3, 6-1. Taylor Fritz (USA/11) defeated Benjamin Bonzi (Fra) 3-6, 6-3, 6-4, Matteo Berrettini (Ita) beat Brandon Nakashima (USA/14) 6-4, 3-6, 7-6(8), Alex Michelsen (USA) defeated Jiri Lehecka (Cze) 6-7 (5), 6-2, 6-4, and Ben Shelton (USA/3) was better than Cameron Norrie (GBR) 6-3, 6-4.
