Tennis News

Dimtirov withdraws ahead of Medvedev clash in Paris

Grigor Dimitrov’s return to action this week at the Rolex Paris Masters was sweet, but sadly cut short when he withdrew from his second-round clash with Daniil Medvedev on Wednesday afternoon.

The 34-year-old Bulgarian, who was sidelined for three months due to a pectoral injury, made a winning return on Monday against Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard. But, ahead of his 12th Lexus ATP Head2Head meeting with Medvedev (8-3 Medvedev), Dimitrov withdrew due to a shoulder injury.

In the fourth round at Wimbledon in July, Dimitrov led then-World No. 1 Jannik Sinner by two sets to love when he felt a sudden pain in his pectoral muscle and was forced to retire. It marked his fifth consecutive exit at a major through retirement.

The former No. 3 player in the PIF ATP Rankings, Dimitrov spent three months on the sidelines before his long-awaited return to Paris, where he reached the final in 2023. On Tuesday evening, he accompanied Nicolas Mahut on the doubles court in the Frenchman’s final match of his career.

However, Dimitrov was unable to return to singles action on Wednesday. Instead the match between Alejandro Davidovich Fokina and Arthur Cazaux has been upgraded from Court 2 to Court 1.

Into the third round in Paris for the first time since reaching the final in 2021, Medvedev will next face Lorenzo Musetti or Lorenzo Sonego.

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Fritz takes important step towards Turin with opening win in Paris

Taylor Fritz stayed ahead of the chasing pack of Nitto ATP Finals contenders at the Rolex Paris Masters Tuesday with a 7-6(4), 6-2 win over Australian Aleksandar Vukic.

With fellow Turin contenders Ben Shelton, Felix Auger-Aliassime and Daniil Medvedev also all claiming wins Tuesday, Fritz ensured that he remained next in line to qualify at fifth in the PIF ATP Live Race to Turin.

The fourth-seeded American, who fell to Jannik Sinner in the title match of the season finale last year, claimed his 52nd win of the season after firing 12 aces and clubbing 10 forehand winners.

“It was a tough match,” Fritz said. “I thought that he served really well in the first set. I looked at the percentage after the set. I was curious. It was 72 per cent. But that was after the tie-break. He missed, I think, three first serves in the tie-break or so up until that.

“He was probably serving 80 per cent first serves, hitting spots on it. He’s got a great first serve. So, I did well to just keep holding serve and play a good tie-break, and then I found the breaks in the second set.”

The 2024 US Open finalist awaits the winner of 13th seed Alexander Bublik and Frenchman Corentin Moutet in the third round.

“Either way, it’s gonna be a very tricky match,” Fritz said. “Both of them do a lot of shots that make you uncomfortable, I’d say, especially Moutet, but Bublik as well, the drop shots, both of them. It’s a lot of craziness going on. So, I have to be very mentally ready for that match.”

[NEWSLETTER FORM]

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How Sinner is close to doing what never has been done before

Jannik Sinner is closing on history.

The Italian might be on the back foot in the battle for ATP Year-End No. 1 presented by PIF honours. But according to an Infosys ATP Beyond The Numbers analysis, the World No. 2 has a chance to rewrite the record books in another way.

The 24-year-old currently leads the ATP Tour in both service games won and return games won. Since 1991, when the ATP began tracking such statistics, no player has topped both categories in the same season.

Service Games Won (entering Paris)

Entering the Rolex Paris Masters, Sinner has won 91.5 per cent of his service games for the season. No other player has held more than 89.3 per cent of their service games. Second on the list is Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard (89.3%), followed by Taylor Fritz (89.3%), Reilly Opelka (89%) and Novak Djokovic (88.5%).

Nobody else in the Top 5 of the service games won leaderboard also features in the Top 5 of the return games won chart. Sinner leads the way having won 32.7 per cent of his return games.

Return Games Won (entering Paris)

Sinner’s great rival, World No. 1 Carlos Alcaraz, is just two-hundredths of a percentage behind in second place. Alex de Minaur is well behind in third (30.1%), followed by Sebastian Baez (28.7%) and Francisco Cerundolo (28.7%).

One year ago, Sinner became the first Italian to claim ATP Year-End No. 1 presented by PIF honours. In 2025, he has actually won a higher rate of service games won (91.5% to 91.4%) and return games won (32.7% to 28.3%) compared to 2024.

Sinner has taken a big step forward in his return game. Before this season, he had never broken more than 29.2 per cent of the time, which he did in 2023.

The performance has helped him remain in the hunt for year-end No. 1 with less than a month remaining in the season. Sinner’s hopes have increased after Alcaraz’s second-round loss in Paris.

Alcaraz entered Paris sixth in service games won (87.5%) and second in return games won (32.7%).

Sinner begins his Rolex Paris Masters on Wednesday against Zizou Bergs.

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Alcaraz loss opens door for Sinner's shot at World No. 1 in Paris

Jannik Sinner’s quest to replace Carlos Alcaraz as World No. 1 this week came into much sharper focus Tuesday following the Spaniard’s shock three-set loss to Cameron Norrie at the Rolex Paris Masters.

The Italian now controls his own destiny, guaranteed to return top spot in the PIF ATP Rankings on Monday should he win the ATP Masters 1000 title, played for the first time this year at La Défense Arena.

Sinner’s debut 65-week reign as World No. 1 ended after the US Open, where his defeat to Alcaraz in the final saw the six-time Grand Slam champion return to No. 1.

Should Sinner win the Paris title for the first time, he will return to World No. 1 for just one week before handing it back to Alcaraz ahead of the Nitto ATP Finals, where he will drop the 1500 points earned by winning last year’s season finale on home soil.

Alcaraz’s unexpected defeat to Norrie – which ended his 17-match winning streak at Masters 1000 events – will also have a major impact on the battle for ATP Year-End No.1 presented by PIF honours should Sinner close out the season by winning Paris and successfully defending Turin.

If Sinner wins Paris, he will claw to within 1,050 points of the Spaniard in the PIF ATP Live Race to Turin. With neither player scheduled to compete the week before the season finale, should Sinner then emerge an undefeated champion at the Inalpi Arena for the second consecutive year, Alcaraz would need to pick up 450 points at the Nitto ATP Finals to end the year No. 1.

Under that scenario, Alcaraz would need to reach the final with at least one group stage win or go undefeated in group stage play. 

Sinner, who won his 22^nd title Sunday in Vienna, begins his quest for his first Paris crown Wednesday against Belgium’s Zizou Bergs.

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Norrie stuns Alcaraz for 'biggest win of career'

British’s Cameron Norrie stuns world number one Carlos Alcaraz with a gritty comeback in the second round at the Paris Masters.

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Alcaraz after Norrie defeat: 'I don't know what happened here’

Carlos Alcaraz arrived in Paris with clarity, confidence, and momentum. At the end of a season in which he has won eight titles and returned to No. 1 in the PIF ATP Rankings, he looked destined to dominate.

Instead, the French ATP Masters 1000 event proved once again to be his enigma. British lefty Cameron Norrie defeated Alcaraz 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 on Tuesday night — a result that seemed to baffle the Spaniard as much as anyone.

“I came here really well. I came here with a lot of energy. I came here thinking that I could do good results because I have been playing really good tennis,” said Alcaraz, who is now 5-5 in Paris, according to the Infosys ATP Win/Loss Index. “This is the best year for me in terms of playing at the end of the year. So I’ve been talking with some other players, with my team, that I feel great.

Other years I felt exhausted, I felt tired, I felt mentally, physically. But this year I feel good. I skipped Shanghai. I have been at home [for some] days so I could enjoy myself there and relax, help the battery, so I don’t know what happened here. It is a tournament that is really difficult for me to play well, but I will figure it out, and I will end up playing great tennis here, for sure.”

The match was a rare moment when Alcaraz was lost for solutions. This season, he has usually found a way of bending matches in his favour, but on the slick indoor courts in the French capital, something never quite clicks.

With less than two weeks to go until the Nitto ATP Finals, Alcaraz faces a quick turnaround to prepare in his quest for a first title at the year-end championships.

“I will try to prepare myself as best as I can, coming to Turin, coming to Davis Cup, really important tournaments that I have ahead right now,” said Alcaraz. “Right now I just want to be back home, and let’s see what I’m going to do. But of course I’m going to practise and prepare myself, and obviously I will try not to let this happen again.”

The defeat means that Alcaraz’s fierce rival, Jannik Sinner, could reclaim the World No. 1 ranking if he wins his maiden title in Paris.

Norrie claimed he would ‘take it to him’ when he stepped on court with Alcaraz, and despite dropping the first set, he did just that. The Briton overwhelmed use his his heavy topspin forehand to great effect, deploying variation and grit to play Alcaraz at his own game.

It marked Norrie’s first win over a World No. 1 and the Briton is now 3-5 in his Lexus ATP Head2Head series with Alcaraz. Although the Spaniard gave credit to his opponent, he was left searching for answers on his subpar performance.

“I had a lot of practices here, I was feeling great, feeling amazing, moving on the court, hitting the ball,” added Alcaraz. “I had all the ideas clear, all the goals clear. But today, even in the first set — that I won — I just felt like I could do much more than what I did.

“I tried in the second set just to be better, but it was totally the opposite. I just felt even worse. I think I have to give credit to Cam, because I think he didn’t let me stay or come back into the match.”

If 2025 has taught us anything about Alcaraz, however, it’s that setbacks rarely linger. His Paris puzzle remains unsolved, but his season remains unmistakably upward. Turin awaits, and with it, another chance to add a new milestone to a career already rich with them.

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Norrie stuns Alcaraz in Paris, snaps Spaniard's 17-match Masters 1000 winning streak

Cameron Norrie earned his first win against a World No. 1 on Tuesday at the Rolex Paris Masters, where he shocked a below-par Carlos Alcaraz 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 to reach the third round in the French capital.

Alcaraz was competing for the first time since he won his Tour-leading eighth title of the season in Tokyo in late September and was far from his best in his eighth Lexus ATP Head2Head meeting with Norrie (5-3 in Alcaraz’s favour). The top seed committed 54 unforced errors and uncharacteristically struggled with his timing and footwork for large periods.

Despite winning the first set, Alcaraz was continuously searching for a level that never arrived and he had a lively conversation with coach Juan Carlos Ferrero courtside after he dropped the second set. The defeat ends Alcaraz’s 17-match winning streak at ATP Masters 1000 events, dating back to Miami in March, when he also fell in his opening match. The Spaniard lifted trophies in Monte-Carlo, Rome and Cincinnati.

“Massive, so big for me,” Norrie said on what the victory means to him. “I have been coming back from my injury. Last year, I lost first round of qualies here. I have just tried to enjoy my tennis in the second half of the year and I was able to do that and to get a win like this, the biggest of my career, my first over a World No. 1 and especially against the most confident player in the world right now, with Sinner combined. I am just so pleased with the way I did it. I had a lot of chances and had to keep pushing and going for more and I was able to stay tough and get the win, so I am really pleased.”

Alcaraz could now cede top spot in the PIF ATP Rankings this week after losing just his eighth match of the season. If Jannik Sinner wins the title in Paris, he will return to World No. 1 for the first time since the US Open.

In the battle for ATP Year-End No. 1 presented by PIF honours, Alcaraz remains in a strong position, though. He currently leads the PIF ATP Live Race To Turin, a key indicator of the year-end rankings, by 2,040 points.

With his upset win, Norrie defeated a World No. 1 for the first time in his fifth attempt. The British lefty is into the round of 16 at a Masters 1000 event for the first time since Rome in 2023 and has equalled his best result in Paris (R3, 2021). The 30-year-old, who won his lone Masters 1000 crown in Indian Wells in 2021, raised his fist into the air after sealing victory on his second match point before he turned to his box to celebrate.

“I played a really, really good first set. I thought it was close. He just took his chances and I didn’t,” Norrie said. “I wanted to keep pushing and honestly, it was such a physical match. I have been doing some workouts with my fitness coach Vasek and I was telling my team that this is even tougher than the conditioning sessions with Vasek and he makes them tough sessions. So I think I felt quite comfortable with that and I just wanted to keep pushing him and I saw him talking with his team a lot and that gave me some confidence.”

STATEMENT MADE 🤯@cam_norrie knocks out World No. 1 Alcaraz 4-6 6-3 6-4!@RolexPMasters | #RolexParisMasters pic.twitter.com/R28kehiaV4

— ATP Tour (@atptour) October 28, 2025

While Alcaraz is known for being one of the game’s best shotmakers, it was Norrie who stole the early spotlight, nailing a backhand flick passing shot on the fourth point of the match.

With both players looking to move forward and dictate play, a crucial moment came at 2-2 in the opening set. Norrie double faulted at deuce, opening the door for Alcaraz, who then converted his first break point by hammering a forehand crosscourt into the Briton’s backhand. After winning the opening set, Alcaraz struggled in the second set. The Spaniard was unable to find any rhythm in the baseline exchanges and could not deal with the British lefty’s heavy topspin forehand, with Norrie forcing a decider.

The Spaniard had a chat with Ferrero ahead of the third set, with both seemingly voicing their thoughts about the performance. Alcaraz’s timing was off in the third set and he lost his serve in the seventh game of the set when a pumped-up Norrie fired a backhand pass crosscourt. With the pressure on, Norrie fended off two break points in the following game, according to ATP Infosys Stats, and held his nerve to triumph after two hours and 22 minutes.

“That 4-3 game was crucial,” World No. 31 Norrie said. “I saved a couple of break points there and then when I went to serve for the match, I actually went for a walk with my coach this morning and we talked through serving for a match and what I need to tell myself because I was so, so tight serving for the match against Baez yesterday. I was 0/40 on my serve but managed to get it. I told myself I deserved to be in this moment and want to be here, so I felt quite relaxed with that and it was a nice walk and a very important walk.”

Norrie will next face a wild card, Valentin Vacherot or Arthur Rinderknech, who are cousins. Vacherot capped his fairytale run at this month’s Rolex Shanghai Masters with a championship victory against Rinderknech, a fitting finish for the Hollywood-worthy story. Vacherot, then World No. 204, became the lowest-ranked ATP Masters 1000 champion in history (since 1990).

Did You Know?
Norrie is the third player in tournament history to upset the top seed in the opening round in Paris. Julien Benneteau beat Roger Federer in 2009 and Marc Rosset upset Pete Sampras in 1996.

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Alcaraz, De Minaur, Zverev finish atop ATP 500 Bonus Pool standings

A dramatic week of action in Vienna and Basel shaped the final standings in the 2025 ATP 500 Bonus Pool, with six players claiming a share of the $3 million on offer.

Carlos Alcaraz had already clinched first place and at least $1 million in bonus money after winning the Tokyo title in September. The Spaniard earned a total of 1,930 PIF ATP Rankings points at the ATP 500 level, also lifting trophies at Rotterdam and Queen’s Club.

But the race for the rest of the top six places went down to the wire, with Alex de Minaur, Alexander Zverev, Alejandro Davidovich Fokina and Jannik Sinner all making deep runs last week to strengthen their positions in the standings. Andrey Rublev rounded out the top six, fuelled by his title in Doha and runner-up finish in Hamburg.

ATP 500 Bonus Pool Standings

De Minaur’s run to the Vienna semi-finals helped him hold off Zverev, who reached the final at the same event. Both players fell to Sinner, who surged into the top six with his title run. Sinner also won the Beijing title in October, with his two trophy runs accounting for 1,000 of his 1,050 points. The other 50 points came from his opening-round win in Halle in June.

Basel finalist Davidovich Fokina stayed ahead of Sinner and vaulted past Rublev with his run, which came to an end against Joao Fonseca. The Brazilian claimed his biggest career title on Sunday, his first at the ATP 500 level.

The ATP 500 Bonus Pool more than doubled for 2025. Last year, $1.34 million was distributed to five players with the most points earned in the ATP 500 category.

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Nicolas Mahut: A career built on heart, spirit & lasting memories

Across 25 years on the ATP Tour, Nicolas Mahut crafted a career that any player would envy. Five Grand Slam doubles titles, reaching No. 1 in the PIF ATP Doubles Rankings, and a Davis Cup victory for France.

Among the countless memories, one match still stands out — not for a trophy, but for its place in tennis history. Fifteen years on, Mahut can still smile when people ask if he beat John Isner in their record-breaking 2010 Wimbledon epic, which stretched over three days and lasted 11 hours and five minutes.

“It will stay somehow in both categories and that’s not a bad thing. It was both a painful moment and a moment that felt quite suspended,” said Mahut. “It is one of my biggest memories, inevitably. At the start, it did bother me a lot because I was tired of being the handsome loser.”

The Frenchman’s 70-68 fifth-set loss to Isner once felt like a burden. A reminder of coming so close, but ending up on the losing side of one of tennis’ most talked-about matches. But time and perspective have given Mahut peace. He even wrote a book about that extraordinary experience, one that helped him turn heartbreak into strength.

<img alt=”Nicolas Mahut, John Isner” style=”width:100%;” src=”/-/media/images/news/2025/10/28/11/35/mahut-isner-retirement-tribute-2025.jpg?w=100%25″ />_{^{John Isner defeats Nicolas Mahut in the longest match in history. Photo: Glyn Kirk/Getty Images.}} 

“I now enjoy talking about that match because it was a crazy experience,” Mahut said. “It brought me a lot as a player and as a man. But I can be associated with that match and I can talk about it easily because I know that after that… I managed to win.”

And win he did. Mahut went on to capture 37 tour-level doubles titles, including two Nitto ATP Finals crowns and five major titles with longtime partner Pierre-Hugues Herbert, ascending to No. 1 in the PIF ATP Doubles Rankings.

“That’s a source of pride. I perhaps wasn’t strong enough to leave my mark on the tennis world through my record, but I found a way to be associated, for eternity, with Wimbledon, which for me is the greatest [tournament] in the world,” Mahut, who won Wimbledon in 2016, humbly said.

“When I went this year with my son, walking through the aisles, he saw his name after all, because it’s also his. It gives me a little pride and ultimately there’s nothing more beautiful for me.”

That sense of pride and completion surrounded Mahut’s farewell this week at the Rolex Paris Masters, where he played his final match alongside good friend Grigor Dimitrov — a 6-4, 5-7, 10-4 defeat to Hugo Nys and Edouard Roger-Vasselin on Tuesday afternoon.

“We always wanted to do a few double sessions together throughout the last years, but I was honestly never really able to commit,” Dimitrov said of Mahut. “It was the right time. It was the last tournament for him and it made sense. I have a very sentimental relationship with him.

“For so many years, we played against each other. We competed more than once on such a big occasion. So it’s safe to say that it’s a good ending for him.”

Although his doubles achievements stand tall, Mahut was also a formidable singles player. He earned 181 tour-level wins and lifted four ATP Tour trophies, according to the Infosys ATP Win/Loss Index, triumphing in ‘s-Hertogenbosch (2013, ‘15, ‘16) and Newport (2013).

Armed with a precise serve and slick volleys, Mahut’s attacking instincts made him a threat on fast courts. That translated seamlessly to his later doubles success. Alongside Herbert, he built one of the most accomplished partnerships of the modern era, becoming one of only eight teams to complete the career Grand Slam in men’s doubles.

<img alt=”Pierre-Hugues Herbert, Nicolas Mahut” style=”width:100%;” src=”/-/media/images/news/2025/10/28/11/47/herbert-mahut-retirement-tribute-2025.jpg” />_{^{Nicolas Mahut and Pierre-Hugues Herbert triumph at the Nitto ATP Finals in 2021. Photo: Corinne Dubreuil/ATP Tour}}

“Being able to win Grand Slams was for me one of the best memories,” Mahut said. “That’s what I will remember. Beyond the titles, the trophies that I may have, it’s also ultimately everything that happened in order for me to achieve those trophies and victories.

“It’s all the doubts, the questioning, the mistakes I made. That is ultimately what makes a career rich, and mine is very rich in that regard.”

This richness was celebrated in moving fashion in Paris, when his longtime sponsor, Lacoste, surprised him at dawn on the new centre court at La Défense Arena. Over the years, Mahut had saved each polo shirt from every collection since the second year of his partnership with the brand — around 60 in total.

“On Saturday, Lacoste surprised me. I wasn’t aware. I came in the morning, and on the centre court at 6 a.m. there was no one there,” Mahut said. “When I arrived, they had set them [the polos] up on mannequins around the court. Already the fact of experiencing this, to see again some polos that I wore during certain victories, reminded me of memories.”

Mahut’s love affair with tennis began long before his first ATP Tour match. It started in 1991, when a nine-year-old boy in France watched his country lift the Davis Cup trophy. More than two decades later, his dream of replicating that feat became a reality.

In 2017, Mahut won all three of his doubles rubbers during France’s title run and finally held the Davis Cup trophy in his hands.

“It has guided my entire career,” Mahut said of the Davis Cup. “That’s why I wanted to play, because it made me dream. I wanted to be a tennis player after watching the Davis Cup in 1991. That’s what made me want to do it, and I didn’t know what I would have to do.

“However, when I saw them win in ’91 in Lyon, I thought, ‘This is what I want to do, this is what I want to win’, without understanding the effort I would have to put in to make it happen. And in the end, I ended up having the cup at home.”

From the boy who fell in love with tennis watching France win the Davis Cup, to the man who stood atop the world in doubles, Nicolas Mahut’s journey has come full circle. His career — rich in perseverance, humility and joy — is one of both inspiration and heart.

As the curtain falls at the Rolex Paris Masters, Mahut bids farewell not defined by any scoreline, but by a lifetime of grace, grit, and the quiet satisfaction of a dream fulfilled.

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How new WTA leader can draw on Dolly Parton & NBA experience

New WTA chair Valerie Camillo is tasked with driving growth for women’s tennis – and can draw on her experience working with country music superstar Dolly Parton.

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