World number one Novak Djokovic had a strong start in his pursuit of a seventh Paris Masters title. He defeated Tomas Etcheverry with a convincing 6-3, 6-2 victory in the second round. Djokovic, who hadn’t played a singles match since the Davis Cup six weeks ago, has extended his lead at the top of the rankings, now ahead by 580 points over Spain’s Carlos Alcaraz, who was eliminated from the tournament on Tuesday. Throughout the match against the Argentine world number 31, Djokovic only made nine unforced errors and did not drop serve. The entire match lasted one hour and 23 minutes.
“I am pleased…. Some parts of the match were really good, others losing the rhythm. But I think it is normal to be rusty a little bit after not playing an official match for so long,” said Djokovic, reflecting on his performance. In the next round, he will face Dutchman Tallon Griekspoor.
Meanwhile, third-ranked Daniil Medvedev suffered a defeat against Bulgarian Grigor Dimitrov in a thrilling match that ended 6-3, 6-7(4), 7-6(2). Greek seventh seed Stefanos Tsitsipas emerged victorious against Canadian Felix Auger-Aliassime with a score of 6-3, 7-6(4). Tsitsipas will now go head-to-head with Alexander Zverev, who fought hard to overcome Frenchman Ugo Humbert in a three-set battle that finished 6-4, 6-7(3), 7-6(5).
In other matches, American Tommy Paul’s chances of making it to the ATP Finals were dashed as the 12th seed lost to qualifier Botic Van de Zandschulp in a match that ended 6-4, 2-6, 6-3. However, 13th seed Alex de Minaur of Australia stayed in contention for a spot in the tournament by defeating Dusan Lajovic 4-6, 6-4, 6-4.
Elsewhere, Francisco Cerundolo surprised Casper Ruud with a 7-5, 6-4 victory. Cerundolo will now face 11th seed Hubert Hurkacz of Poland, who earlier defeated Roberto Bautista Agut 6-3, 6-2 in less than an hour.
In late matches, sixth seed Holger Rune of Denmark comfortably won 6-4, 6-3 against Dominic Thiem. Italian Jannik Sinner, the fourth seed, rallied from a set down to defeat American Mackenzie McDonald 6-7(6), 7-5, 6-1.