ATP: Semi-finals in Paris-Bercy – A premiere and a classic

In the semi-finals of the ATP Masters 1000 Tournament in Paris-Bercy, Dominic Thiem, Karen Khachanov, Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic will meet four players who have few secrets from each other.

Nothing but a big family party is to be expected in the preliminary round of the ATP Masters 1000 tournament in Paris-Bercy: Firstly, because the four protagonists know each other quite well. Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic have already played 46 duels on the tour, and they have also found each other a new human quality. The time together at the Laver Cup a few weeks ago made it possible.

Dominic Thiem and Karen Khachanov will make their debut in Paris today, Saturday, both in the semi-finals of this event and as opponents. However, there are few secrets, as Thiem explained after his success against defending champion Jack Sock.

With hardly any player did he train more often than with Khachanov, who owed his former connection to Galo Blanco. The Spanish coach had been seen at the beginning of the year at the side of Dominic Thiem, now Galo has turned to greener meadows. He will play a leading role in the Kosmos Group, which will host the Davis Cup final tournament next year.

What Djokovic and above all Federer are unlikely to accept. The Serbian will probably prefer the revived World Team Cup to the Davis Cup break, Federer has already described the event as one aimed at the next generation. The two veterans met only once this year on the court, in the final of Cincinnati. Federer had no job there, Djokovic sacked the last vacant title on his bucket list.

In the quarter-finals, Federer convinced against Kei Nishikori, even though the Japanese didn’t look as fresh as he did a week ago when he took Dominic Thiem out of the tournament in Vienna. Djokovic, on the other hand, was not at peace with himself and his support team in the match against Marin Cilic for a few moments, smashed a racket, yelled towards the box – and still landed a never-ending victory.

The Serb will be the favourite in the encounter with Federer, the last defeat of the first of the world rankings again on Monday stems from a bankruptcy against Stefanos Tsitsipas in Toronto. After all, the Swiss player was held harmless last week in Basel, before losing to Borna Coric in the semi-finals in Shanghai. Federer only won the title in Paris in 2011, a Da Capo would bring him winner trophy number 100.

The prelude (14:00, live on SKY and in our LIVE-TICKER) will be Dominic Thiem and Karen Khachanov. The game against Sock has already given the Lower Austrian a good idea of what to expect against the Russian: strong serve, strong forehand. Even if Khachanov doesn’t whip the latter over the net as humorlessly as the US American.

Should Thiem have felt any pressure with regard to qualifying for the ATP Final in London, he has been disbanded since Friday evening anyway: With Federer’s victory over Nishikori, the Austrian number one is sure to win the London ticket.

Against Khachanov it’s only a question of entering the final of the last ATP Masters 1000 tournament of the year. For Thiem it would be the third final on this level, for Khachanov a premiere.

Here the single tableau in Paris-Bercy