A Parisian Dream

With Djokovic relaxing in the Maldives and Jannik Sinner’s withdrawal, due to a virus, before his opening match on Wednesday, Alcaraz had a fantastic opportunity this week to take the Paris Masters title. The final Masters 1000 event on the ATP calendar has long-been know for its mercurial results. We have seen Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic lose to much lower ranked opponents here over the years. Perhaps, its the lack of motivation, or fatigue or prioritising the ATP Finals – Turin (ATP top eight players), which begins the following Sunday after the final of the Paris Masters.

Bercy has not been a good hunting ground for Carlos Alcaraz since he appeared onto the Tour a few years ago. The fast court conditions do not do his game justice, whereas the slow high-bouncing red dirt in Boulogne-Billancourt suits the Spaniard’s tennis moreso. Having won his first Roland Garros title in May, spain’s highest ranked male player has won a large number of matches on clay, with titles in Barcelona, Madrid and Roland Garros.

The Semi Finals today in Bercy include Zverev, who is having a fantastic season, Holger Rune, France’s Ugo Humbert, who knocked out Alcaraz on Thursday evening and Khachanov who has not had the best season, however has been winning a lot over the last month, taking the title in Almaty, Kazhakstan and reaching the final of Vienna the following week.

Out of the four remaining contenders, they are all in with a chance of winning the title. Rune and Khachanoc have both won this trophy before, with Humbert and Zverev having never won it. Who wins? We shall see in the Sunday showdown in the last ever Paris Masters held at the Accor Arena in Bercy. 2025 sees the event moving to a brand new venue in La Defense, in Paris’s Financial District where the arena will hold an additional 5000 attendees, allowing for more tennis fans to enjoy this wonderful event.