Djokovic Begins Parisian Pursuit For World No. 1

Novak Djokovic was last the No. 1 player in the ATP Rankings at the 2016 Rolex Paris Masters. So it’s only fitting that two years on, it’s at the Parisian ATP World Tour Masters 1000 event that the Serbian has a chance to take the top spot back.

Djokovic, a four-time champion at the tournament, got off to a good start to his pursuit of that goal on Tuesday with a 7-5, 6-1 victory against Portuguese qualifier Joao Sousa. Djokovic has won 19 consecutive matches, and he has crafted a 28-set winning streak dating back to the second round of the US Open. 

For Djokovic to pass World No. 1 Rafael Nadal when the next ATP Rankings come out on 5 November, he must outlast Nadal this week in Paris. If both stars lose in the same round, the Spaniard will remain No. 1. Djokovic, who has spent 223 weeks atop the ATP Rankings, was No. 1 for 122 straight weeks — the fourth-longest stint in history — before falling to Marin Cilic in the 2016 Paris quarter-finals.

The 31-year-old can also tie Nadal’s record of 33 Masters 1000 titles with a victory this week. The Serbian has won the past two events at this level, triumphing at the Western & Southern Open and the Rolex Shanghai Masters.

Djokovic did well to save nine of the 10 break points he faced agains Sousa, who won the Estoril Open earlier this season. Djokovic won 73 per cent of second-serve return points en route to a one-hour, 33-minute victory against Sousa, whom he now leads 6-0 in their FedEx ATP Head2Head series.

In the third round, Djokovic will face three-time ATP World Tour titlist Damir Dzumhur, who upset #NextGenATP Canadian and Intrum Stockholm Open champion Stefanos Tsitsipas 6-3, 6-3 in just 71 minutes. It will be the pair’s first FedEx ATP Head2Head meeting.

Dzumhur, the No. 52 player in the ATP Rankings, owns four wins against Top 10 opponents in his career, but he is 0-4 this year. The 26-year-old captured his 100th tour-level match win in the first round in Bercy, defeating German Peter Gojowczyk.

from Tennis - ATP World Tour https://ift.tt/2CNhWZT