Record champion Novak Djokovic has reached the last sixteen of the Rolex Paris Masters thanks to his 19th consecutive victory and can continue to dream of his fifth title coup at the indoor tournament on the Seine. The world number two defeated the qualifier Joao Sousa (Portugal) with 7:5, 6:1 after some problems.
After 1:33 hours Djokovic turned his third match point and celebrated a successful start. In the next round of the ninth and final 1000 Masters in 2018, the 31-year-old will be faced surprisingly with the unseeded Bosnian Damir Dzumhur, who eliminated the Greek Stefanos Tsitsipas (No. 14) 6:3, 6:3.
Paris-Bercy and Novak Djokovic – that fits. Between 2009 and 2015, the Serb had won four titles in the 12th arrondissement in the east of the French metropolis. He never made a secret of the fact that he felt particularly at home at the Palais Omnisports.
And this year something very special could happen to the six-time Australian Open Champion in the City of Love. Djokovic, winner of the last two Grand Slams in Wimbledon and New York, has the chance in Paris to push industry leader Rafael Nadal from the top of the world rankings. The winner collects 1000 points – and 973,480 euros.
It would be a historic achievement, because since the introduction of the computer ranking in 1973, no one has ever done so many good places in a single season to finally reach the top. A look back: In June, the “Djoker” was ranked 22nd due to the consequences of an elbow operation, after he had a bad crisis in spring and quite a few did not trust him to be able to jump back to the top.
But the father of two taught the skeptics better, won the major crowns in the lawn Mecca on Church Road and in Flushing Meadows in the past three and a half months, as well as the 1000 Masters in Cincinnati and most recently in Shanghai.
While Djokovic did not defeat a single top-ten player in the first five months of the year, he has had nine victories against his illustrious rivals since June.
Nole” is supported by the fact that he has no more points to defend this year. Nadal, who is making his comeback in the French capital on Wednesday after a time-out due to chronic knee problems, is only 215 points behind. Both have already qualified for the ATP finals in London (11 to 18 November).
Against the world rankings-48. Sousa, who also failed in the US Open round of sixteen in September because of Djokovic, the favorite started sovereign and took the lead 4:1. But with increasing duration he lost his consistency in the basic strokes and had to accept in the seventh game of the first set the first break since the US Open final on 9 September and after six matches.
At 5-5, brave Sousa even had another chance to take Djokovic’s serve off again. But the Monegasse kept a cool head in the dicey situation and a little later, after 52 minutes, he got the opening round with a cross-beaten curtain winner – despite his weak balance of 19 Unforced Errors.
As a result, Djokovic was not physically fit, but was able to put his qualities to good use and scored a 5-0 victory. The 14-time Grand Slam triumphator did not let his lead be taken away and finally came to a clear working victory in the Night Session. However, Sousa had ten break chances.
Major record champion Roger Federer will also compete in Paris. After the 37-year-old Swiss’s home triumph last Sunday in Basel, participation in the 5.44 million euro indoor spectacle was not certain.
Here the Draw of the Rolex Paris Masters