PARIS: Novak Djokovic demonstrated his need to complete the season because the No. 1 males’s participant for a file eighth time by beating Tomas Martin Etcheverry 6-3, 6-2 within the second spherical of the Paris Masters on Wednesday.
Djokovic was competing in his first singles match since mid-September when he performed for Serbia within the group stage of the Davis Cup.
“At the beginning of the match, it was a bit difficult for me to find the rhythm,” the highest-seeded Djokovic stated on court docket, “but at the end of the second set, it was really good.”
Djokovic received 5 straight video games to take the opening set with an ace and lead 2-0 within the second set.
The Serbian participant solely confronted one break level that he saved with a forehand cross-court docket winner at 1-0 within the second set.
A six-time champion on the Paris Masters, Djokovic elevated his result in 5-1 earlier than changing his third match level when Etcheverry netted a backhand.
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Djokovic can widen the hole with No. 2 Carlos Alcaraz within the race for the 12 months-finish prime spot after the Spaniard misplaced to qualifier Roman Safiullin on Tuesday.
Alcaraz is the one participant who can overtake Djokovic after Daniil Medvedev dropped out of competition after he was crushed by Grigor Dimitrov 6-3, 6-7 (4), 7-6 (2) earlier Wednesday.
Djokovic had racked up 500 extra factors than Alcaraz this season earlier than the Paris Masters.
Djokovic received’t have the ability to clinch the 12 months-finish No. 1 spot in Paris since Alcaraz nonetheless will get 10 factors for his second-spherical defeat.
There are 1,000 factors for the Paris Masters winner and 1,500 factors for an ideal run on the ATP Finals.
Djokovic holds the lads’s file with seven 12 months-finish No. 1 finishes, yet one more than Pete Sampras. Women’s tennis nice Steffi Graf holds the file with eight.
“Of course, my greatest motivation is still love for the game. I really like competing. So, as simple as that,” Djokovic had advised a information convention on Saturday. “And then, you know, I always have goals, you know, and to win another slam, to be No. 1 again, to finish the year as No. 1. Those are let’s say the big goals.”
Medvedev was booed off the court docket after remonstrating with the group in the course of the match.
The crowd acquired beneath Medvedev’s pores and skin within the eleventh sport of the second set, jeering him as he was about to serve after he had thrown his racket. The third-ranked Russian went again to his chair and complained to the referee earlier than speaking on to the spectators in French.
“If there’s one who whistles, I don’t play,” Medvedev advised the group. “You don’t whistle, I play. So, you shut your mouths.”
From that second, the group overwhelmingly threw its help behind Dimitrov, and Medvedev appeared to make a impolite hand gesture towards some spectators as he walked off the court docket after the loss.
“I play in Bercy much better when there is no crowd at all in attendance,” Medvedev joked afterward, referring to successful the Paris Masters title in 2020 in the course of the pandemic in an empty area. “That’s the only time I won the tournament.”
Dimitrov misplaced to Medvedev within the second spherical of the Erste Bank Open in Austria final week, however the Bulgarian hit 45 winners on Wednesday in comparison with 22 for the Russian, who double-faulted eight occasions.
Dimitrov whipped a forehand passing shot to interrupt for a 4-2 lead within the ultimate set however he didn’t serve out the match at 5-3 as Medvedev saved 4 match factors, together with one 47-shot rally.
Medvedev saved two extra match factors on his serve at 6-5 however Dimitrov jumped out to a 5-0 lead within the decisive tiebreaker and transformed his seventh match level with a forehand volley.
Meanwhile, the twelfth-seeded Tommy Paul can not qualify for the ATP Finals after shedding to qualifier Botic Van de Zandschulp 6-4, 2-6, 6-3. Stefanos Tsitsipas, Hubert Hurkacz and Alex de Minaur stayed in competition for the three remaining spots on the eight-man match that might be performed in Turin from Nov. 12-19.
Before the Paris Masters, Djokovic, Alcaraz, Medvedev, Jannik Sinner and Andrey Rublev had already certified for the ATP Finals.
The seventh-seeded Tsitsipas beat Felix Auger-Aliassime 6-3, 7-6 (4), the eleventh-seeded Hurkacz cruised previous Roberto Bautista Agut 6-3, 6-2, and the thirteenth-seeded de Minaur rallied previous Dusan Lajovic 4-6, 6-4, 6-4.
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AP tennis: https://apnews.com/hub/tennis
(This story has not been edited by News18 workers and is printed from a syndicated information company feed – Associated Press)
