Can one win change the course of a season?

Holger Rune will be hoping that is the case after he earned just his second victory in nine matches on Tuesday to reach the second round at the Swiss Indoors Basel, boosting his Nitto ATP Finals qualification chances.

The Dane battled hard to claw past Serbian Miomir Kecmanovic 1-6, 7-5, 6-3 at the ATP 500 event in Switzerland, where he rallied from a set and a break down to triumph after two hours and two minutes. Rune trailed 3-4 in the second set but broke back before sealing the set on his third set point. He did not face a break point in the third set, striking 12 winners in the decider.

The Great Dane completes the great escape 🇩🇰

The 2022 runner-up @holgerrune2003 comes back from a set and a break down in the third set 🆚️ Kecmanovic 1-6 7-5 6-3 #SwissIndoorsBasel pic.twitter.com/Pg0bscwdfI

— ATP Tour (@atptour) October 24, 2023

With his victory, he set a second-round meeting against Sebastian Baez, while he also increased his Nitto ATP Finals qualification chances. The 20-year-old is eighth in the Pepperstone ATP Live Race To Turin, 90 points ahead of ninth-placed Taylor Fritz. Aiming to make his debut at the prestigious year-end event, Rune is currently occupying the final qualification position.

“I am happy I kept fighting and turned the match around,” Rune said. “I tried to raise my level. I always enjoy playing here.”

The top seed enjoyed a strong first half of the season. He lifted the trophy in Munich, reached the final in Rome and the quarter-finals at Roland Garros and Wimbledon. However, he has struggled to find any form since Wimbledon in July, arriving in Basel having lost seven of his past eight matches.

Rune would not be deterred against Kecmanovic though, earning his 39th tour-level win of the season, equalling his previous best mark (2022).

In the final match of the day on centre court, Alexander Shevchenko ousted home hero Stan Wawrinka 6-3, 7-6(8). The qualifier was clutch on the most critical points, saving three of the four break points he faced while converting three of his five opportunities.

Shevchenko lost a set in the first round of qualifying against Fabio Fognini, but has won five consecutive sets to reach the second round of the main draw.

“It ranks unbelievable, especially to beat Stan in Basel,” Shevchenko said of his victory. “When I was having a family dinner [as a kid], Stan was playing the Australian Open final and I remember how he played. And to beat him in Basel is something that I dreamed of, maybe.”

Ivan Dodig and Austin Krajicek bounced back from a disappointing first-round exit in Shanghai on Tuesday when they beat Felix Auger-Aliassime and Sebastian Korda 6-2, 6-4 at the Swiss Indoors Basel.

The top seeds are chasing their sixth tour-level title as a team this week and will next play Tallon Griekspoor and Robin Haase or Hugo Nys and Jan Zielinski. Dodig and Krajicek will compete at the Nitto ATP Finals in November after qualifying earlier this month.

Maximo Gonzalez and Andres Molteni are currently fifth in the Pepperstone ATP Live Doubles Teams Rankings and are looking to join Dodig and Krajicek in Turin. They suffered a first-round loss in Basel, falling to Kevin Krawietz and Tim Puetz. The Germans advanced 6-2, 5-7, 10-5 in one hour and 38 minutes.

Ofner/Oswald Save 2 MPs, Advance In Vienna
Austrians Sebastian Ofner and Philipp Oswald defeated defending champions Alexander Erler and Lucas Miedler 7-6(4), 4-6, 11-9 in the first round at the Erste Bank Open in Vienna. Ofner and Oswald saved two match points, eventually advancing after one hour and 47 minutes.

Cameron Norrie and Tommy Paul also reached the second round at the ATP 500, beating Gonzalo Escobar and Aleksandr Nedovyesov 6-3, 6-0.

After a standout collegiate career, Cypriot Menelaos Efstathiou will now try his hand at the pro level.

The 24-year-old is set to compete in his first ATP Challenger Tour event this week at the Sparkasse Challenger Val Gardena in Ortisei, Italy. Efstathiou graduated this year from Wake Forest University, where he became just the second player from his school to earn Atlantic Coast Conference Player of the Year honours, joining Noah Rubin.

After finishing seventh in the Intercollegiate Tennis Association Rankings, Efstathiou will receive up to eight spots at select ATP Challenger Tour events in the next year, including in Ortisei, thanks to the ATP/ITA Accelerator Programme. The goal of the programme is to become a launching pad for the top players within the American collegiate system and accelerate their journey to the pro level.

The college route is one that Efstathiou will forever cherish.

“College tennis is amazing. I improved my game overall, but I would say more, I became more mature over the last five years,” Efstathiou told ATPTour.com earlier this year. “The level is very high so you always compete with good players, it definitely helped me improve my maturity and raise my level.”

How does a native of Limassol, Cyprus make the move to Winston-Salem, North Carolina? In large part because of his countryman Petros Chrysochos paving the pathway. Chrysochos, 27, won the 2018 NCAA singles title at Wake Forest and was a senior when Efstathiou started his college career.

“We’re good friends, we’re from the same academy. He put me in contact with the coaches and all that so it was kind of easy for me to choose Wake because of him,” Efstathiou said. “He was doing so well and he was telling me how good the program is. It was a pretty easy decision for me.”

Under the tutelage of head coach Tony Bresky, Wake Forest has produced a list of high-level players, including current World No. 77 Borna Gojo. The three-time ITA All-American Gojo was part of the Demon Deacons squad to capture the 2018 NCAA National Championship, the first in program history. The Croatian later turned pro in 2020 following three years at Wake Forest and is serving as an inspiration to Demon Deacons such as Efstathiou.

“We were on the team together,” Efstathiou said. “You could see how he was doing so well in college and still was very competitive. That kind of translates into playing well on the ATP Tour and he’s doing well, so it’s an inspiration for me as well to go and see what I can do.”

Before Efstathiou arrived at Wake Forest, he was already familiar with playing in a team atmosphere. At age 17, he made his Davis Cup debut against Türkiye. Several months later, he would return to the squad against Tunisia alongside former World No. 8 Marcos Baghdatis.

“With Baghdatis, we’re from the same city in Cyprus, we sometimes used to practise together,” Efstathiou said. “When I started my first [Davis Cup], he was there. We have pretty good contact with each other. Whenever we practise together, he gives me good tips here and there. It’s for sure beneficial towards me.”

Following the Ortisei Challenger, Efstathiou will use another Accelerator spot at the Bergamo Challenger, where he is among the qualifying field.

Hubert Hurkacz recorded his 40th tour-level win of the season on Tuesday when he moved past Serbian Dusan Lajovic 7-6(2), 6-3 to reach the second round on his debut at the Swiss Indoors Basel.

The 26-year-old fired 18 aces, won 80 per cent (41/51) of his first-serve points and broke Lajovic’s serve three times to become the first Polish man to earn 40 tour-level wins in consecutive years since Wojtek Fibak in 1981-82.

With his victory, Hurkacz has boosted his Nitto ATP Finals qualification hopes. The Pole is currently 11th in the Pepperstone ATP Live Race To Turin, 300 points behind Holger Rune, who occupies the final qualification spot in eighth.

Earlier this month Hurkacz moved himself into qualification contention for the prestigious year-end event when he won his second ATP Masters 1000 crown in Shanghai, gaining 1,000 points.

Aiming to close the gap to those above him this week at the ATP 500 event in Basel, Hurkacz will next play German Jan-Lennard Struff.

A touch of brilliance at the net: Part 2️⃣

Guess that’s one way to save a break point @HubertHurkacz 🤷‍♂️#SwissIndoorsBasel pic.twitter.com/CiFb1SsyFi

— ATP Tour (@atptour) October 24, 2023

Alex de Minaur is also aiming to compete at the Nitto ATP Finals, to be held from 12-19th November. The Australian increased his slim chances with a 6-4, 6-4 win against Diego Schwartzman to improve to 3-0 in the pair’s Lexus ATP Head2Head series.

De Minaur, who also defeated Schwartzman in Tokyo last week, is 12th in the Pepperstone ATP Live Race To Turin, 190 points behind 11th-placed Hurkacz. The 24-year-old could rise to 10th this week if he wins his second title of the season and his direct rivals fall early.

De Minaur next plays Tallon Griekspoor after the Dutchman beat Brazilian lucky loser Thiago Seyboth Wild 7-6(4), 2-6, 6-3.

Earlier, #NextGenATP Swiss Dominic Stricker maintained his impressive form on home soil when he defeated qualifier Benjamin Hassan 7-6(2), 6-2.

The 21-year-old owns a 5-1 record in first-round tour-level matches in Switzerland, having defeated Maxime Cressy in his opening match at the ATP 500 last year. He will next meet second seed Casper Ruud or Antwerp champion Alexander Bublik.

Stricker, who advanced to the fourth round at the US Open, is up one place to seventh in the Pepperstone ATP Live Race To Jeddah. The lefty is trying to qualify for the Next Gen ATP Finals for the second consecutive year, after reaching the semi-finals in 2022.

Nobody has won more ATP Challenger Tour titles this season than Mariano Navone. The Argentine claimed his fifth title of the year at that level this past weekend when he captured the AAT Challenger Santa Fe 2 on home soil.

The 22-year-old, who is one of four Challenger champions this past week, defeated Italian Andrea Pellegrino 3-6, 6-2, 6-3 in the final. Now at a career-high No. 127 in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings, Navone has won 15 of his past 16 matches on the ATP Challenger Tour, including two consecutive titles after winning in Buenos Aires the week prior to Santa Fe.

“In May of last year I was losing in the first round of an M15 and today I have won five Challengers,” Navone said in Spanish. “To that kid I would tell him to be calm, that good things are going to come. At that moment it was difficult, but now we have to continue, finish the [season] as high as possible.”

Navone is the sixth player with at least five Challenger titles in a season this past decade, joining Facundo Bagnis, Filip Krajinovic, Tallon Griekspoor, Sebastian Baez and Benjamin Bonzi. Navone is the fifth Argentine in ATP Challenger Tour history (since 1978) to collect five Challenger titles in a season.

In other action, Frenchman Kyrian Jacquet claimed his maiden ATP Challenger Tour title at the Olbia Challenger in Italy. The 22-year-old won seven matches in eight days as he advanced through qualifying en route to being crowned champion. Jacquet downed #NextGenATP star Flavio Cobolli 6-3, 6-4 in the final.

“It feels amazing. It was a tough week. I’m really happy about this win because now I’m in [good position for] Australian Open qualifying,” Jacquet said. “It was a long, hard week. Emotionally it was really tough. It was hard from the beginning to the end, but I never gave up and now I have the title.”

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Players from France have combined for a record-breaking 26 ATP Challenger Tour trophies this year, with the Lyon-native Jacquet becoming the 18th different champion from his country this season.

Following his triumph, Jacquet soared 101 spots to a career-high No. 201 in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings.

Cobolli, who won the Lisbon Challenger earlier this month, cracked the Top 100 for the first time Monday following his finalist finish in Olbia. The 21-year-old is also eighth in the Pepperstone ATP Race to Jeddah as he aims for his maiden qualification into the Next Gen ATP Finals.

Australian James Duckworth collected his first ATP Challenger Tour since 2021 by winning the Shenzhen Luohu Challenger, where he cruised past 19-year-old Chak Lam Coleman Wong 6-0, 6-1 in the final. Despite falling short in three Challenger finals in 2023, the 31-year-old Duckworth produced a high level to capture his 13th ATP Challenger Tour crown.

“Really happy to get through and get the win this week,” Duckworth said. “I had a couple of losses in finals this year that were pretty tough and I’m happy to win this one. I thought I played really well the last three matches. I was really focussed and locked in.”

James Duckworth wins the Challenger 75 event in Shenzhen, China.” />
^{James Duckworth wins the Challenger 75 event in Shenzhen, China. Credit: Shenzhen Louhu Challenger}
Illya Marchenko won his second ATP Challenger Tour title of the season at the Hamburg Ladies & Gents Cup in Germany. The 36-year-old Ukrainian overcame Austrian Dennis Novak 6-2, 6-3 in the final to earn his 10th career title at the Challenger level.

“I played really well today,” Merchenko said. “It was an almost perfect match, certainly my best of the week. He had a few chances on my serve in the first set, but I served strongly and played good rallies. Overall, I’m very happy with my game.

“This is the first year I’ve been able to win two singles titles in the same season. At 36 years old it’s honestly quite surprising, but it feels great.”

Illya Marchenko wins the Challenger 50 event in Hamburg, Germany.” />
^{Illya Marchenko wins the Challenger 50 event in Hamburg, Germany. Credit: Witters}

Andrey Rublev rode out a topsy-turvy start to secure a first-round win Tuesday at the Erste Bank Open.

The third seed defeated Alexei Popyrin 7-6(5), 6-4 in Vienna to improve to 10-4 at the ATP 500 event. Rublev led 2-0 and 4-2 in the opening set but he still had to rally from a break down at 4-5 to force a tie-break, which Popyrin at one point led 5/2. The World No. 5 reeled off five straight points to claim the first set, however, before holding firm in the second for a 97-minute triumph.

“I don’t know [how I won the first set],” said Rublev. “I was super lucky, it was my mistake. I was 4-2 up, I had an easy ball and I played it where he was and he passed me. From that moment the match started to change and he was 5-4 up with a break. Somehow I was able to stay there and I was able to turn it around.”

Rublev finished the match having converted four of seven break points he earned. The 26-year-old is a five-time ATP 500 titlist, a tally which includes a title run in Vienna in 2020.

Rublev up and running 💪

2020 champion @AndreyRublev97 gets the better of Popyrin 7-6(5), 6-4@ErsteBankOpen | #erstebankopen pic.twitter.com/O3va2KuTNM

— ATP Tour (@atptour) October 24, 2023

Following his win against Popyrin, Rublev is now just one win away from confirming his place at the Nitto ATP Finals. Currently fifth in the Pepperstone ATP Live Race To Turin, Rublev will seal his spot for the fourth consecutive year at the prestigious season finale by beating Matteo Arnaldi to reach the quarter-finals in Vienna.

“Every match you feel you are one step closer,” said Rublev of his Turin prospects. “Every win, every day. The door is open and I see what is inside, but I am not inside the room yet.”

Following his win against Popyrin, Rublev is now just one win away from confirming his place at the season-ending Nitto ATP Finals. Currently fifth in the Pepperstone ATP Live Race To Turin, Rublev will seal his spot by beating Matteo Arnaldi to reach the quarter-finals in Vienna.

Seventh seed Frances Tiafoe also advanced after Daniel Evans retired from their first-round clash. Evans had led the American 4-1 in the pair’s third Lexus ATP Head2Head meeting of the season when he aggravated his right calve muscle springing forward to a short ball from the baseline.

Tiafoe will take on Stockholm champion Gael Monfils or Daniel Altmaier next as he looks to keep his outside Nitto ATP Finals chances alive.

Another American Turin hopeful, Tommy Paul, eased to a 6-3, 6-1 triumph against qualifier Alexandre Muller. Paul, who is 12th in the Pepperstone ATP Live Race To Turin, will play Aslan Karatsev or Borna Gojo next.

The final ATP Masters 1000 event takes place at the Rolex Paris Masters, where six-time record champion Novak Djokovic and Spaniard Carlos Alcaraz compete. 

Here’s what you need to know ahead of the indoor hard-court event in France: 

When is the Rolex Paris Masters?

The 2023 Rolex Paris Masters will be held from 30 October-5 November. The indoor-hard ATP Masters 1000 tournament, established in 1986, will take place at the AccorHotels Arena in Paris, France. The tournament director is Guy Forget.

Who is playing at the Rolex Paris Masters?

The Rolex Paris Masters will feature record champion Novak Djokovic, Carlos Alcaraz, Daniil Medvedev, Jannik Sinner and defending champion Holger Rune.

When is the draw for the Rolex Paris Masters?

The Rolex Paris Masters draw will be made on Saturday, 30 October at 12:00 p.m.

What is the schedule for the Rolex Paris Masters?

* Qualifying: Saturday, 28 October – Sunday, 29 October at 10:00 a.m Saturday and 11:00 a.m. Sunday
* Main Draw: Monday, 30 October – Sunday, 5 November. Monday – Thursday at 11:00 and 7:30 p.m. Friday at 1:00 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. Saturday at 11:30 a.m.
* Doubles Final: Sunday, 5 November at 12:30 p.m.
* Singles Final: Sunday, 5 November at 3:00 p.m.
*View On Official Website

What is the prize money for the Rolex Paris Masters?

The prize money for the Rolex Paris Masters is €5,779,335 and the Total Financial Commitment is €6,748,815.

SINGLES
Winner: €836,355/ 1000 points
Finalist: €456,720/ 600 points
Semi-finalist: €249,740/ 360 points
Quarter-finalist: €136,255/ 180 points
Round of 16: €72,865/ 90 points
Round of 32: €39,070/ 45 points
Round of 64: €21,650/ 10 points

DOUBLES ($ per team)
Winner: €282,960/ 1000 points
Finalist: €147,840/ 600 points
Semi-finalist: €78,140/ 360 points
Quarter-finalist: €43,300/ 180 points
Round of 16: €23,760/ 90 points
Round of 32: €13,200/ 0 points

How can I watch the Rolex Paris Masters?

Watch Live On Tennis TV
TV Schedule

How can I follow the Rolex Paris Masters?

Hashtag: #RolexParisMasters
Facebook: @rolexparismasters
Twitter: @RolexPMasters
Instagram: @rolexparismasters

Who won the last edition of the Rolex Paris Masters in 2022?

Holger Rune triumphed in the Rolex Paris Masters singles final with a 3-6, 6-3, 7-5 win against Novak Djokovic in the championship match. Wesley Koolhof and Neal Skupski lifted the doubles trophy in Paris with a 7-6(5), 6-4 victory against Ivan Dodig and Austin Krajicek in the final.

Who holds the Paris record for most titles, oldest champion, youngest champion and more?

Most Titles, Singles: Novak Djokovic (6)
Most Titles, Doubles: Bob Bryan and Mike Bryan (4)
Oldest Champion: Novak Djokovic, 34, in 2021
Youngest Champion: Boris Becker, 18, in 1986
Highest-Ranked Champion: No. 1 Stefan Edberg in 1990, Pete Sampras in 1997, Andre Agassi in 1999, Novak Djokovic in 2014-15, 2019, 2021.
Lowest-Ranked Champion: No. 50 Tomas Berdych in 2005
Last Home Champion: Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in 2008
Most Match Wins: Novak Djokovic (45)

View Who Is Playing, Past Champions, Seeds, Points & Prize Money Breakdown

Spanish tennis today seems to be a bottomless source of emerging talent on the ATP Tour. Among the young guns bidding to find a space in the circuit’s elite is 21-year-old Pablo Llamas Ruiz, who has his sights set on a place in the Next Gen ATP Finals, to be held from 28 November – 2 December in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.

Spaniard Llamas Ruiz is hoping to follow in the footsteps of countrymen Jaume Munar (2018), Alejandro Davidovich Fokina (2019), and Carlos Alcaraz (2021), who have previously played in the tournament that pits the best eight under-21 players in the world against one another.

Like almost every boy born in Spain early in the 21st century, he grew up watching Rafael Nadal.

“When I started playing, everything was Nadal. I remember everyone had his racket, everyone was talking about him”, he says of the 22-time Grand Slam champion.

The No. 135 in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings hails from a land in which success has become the norm. Spanish tennis boasts a huge haul of titles in recent times, not only thanks to Nadal, but also figures like David Ferrer, Feliciano Lopez, Fernando Verdasco, Pablo Carreno Busta, Roberto Bautista Agut and, more recently, Alcaraz.

“Historically, Spain has always had many players in the Top 100, there was even a time when we had four or five players in the Top 20, that’s incredible”, he acknowledges. “Having seen Spanish players like Rafa Nadal, David Ferrer, Feliciano Lopez, Fernando Verdasco, Pablo Carreno on TV… it really helps you and I’ve even shared training sessions with them, at the High Performance Centre I practised with Carreno.”

But if there is one man Llamas Ruiz has modelled himself on, it is former World No. 3 David Ferrer.

“I was at his Academy and at that time he really helped me a lot,” Llamas Ruiz said. “I trained with him occasionally, he was there a lot, but seeing him train or even sharing the court with him taught me so much.”

He was training alongside one of the players which forms part of his first memory of tennis. At just nine years of age, sitting in front of the television, he watched in awe as Ferrer, along with Nadal, Verdasco and Feliciano won Spain’s fifth Davis Cup salad bowl.

“I wasn’t aware of everything, but I could see it was more than tennis, it was bigger, I started to appreciate things”, he explains. “I remember the Davis Cup against Argentina in 2011, with the Nadal – Del Potro match, the atmosphere, how the tie went, each match, that’s when I became more aware of what Spanish tennis was.”

Llamas Ruiz is an heir to a certain way of understanding the game, and of competing. His tennis DNA shares many of the traits of the great players who learned their trade on Spanish soil.

“My game from the baseline, running, grit, high bounces, dictating the game, not giving up on points, those kinds of things”, he says of the influence Spanish tennis has had on his game.

But he has also developed his own hallmarks: “I like to approach the net and volley, I have good hands… you didn’t used to see that so much, it was based more on baseline tennis, long rallies. I remember players like Nadal and Ferrer could play from the baseline for hours, in that regard, I prefer using my hands [touch at the net].”

The enormity of all those names does nothing to frighten Llamas Ruiz, who is clear that he is very much on his own journey.

“It doesn’t put me under pressure that Spanish tennis has been, and is, one of the best countries in tennis, it makes me proud to be part of that and I’ll try to give my best”, he says.

Nor is he worried that a player who is one year younger than him, Carlos Alcaraz, has skyrocketed into the ATP Tour elite.

“Not at all! I’m proud of that, I’m so happy for him”, answers Llamas Ruiz without hesitation of the meteoric rise of his compatriot, peer, and friend.

“Hopefully someday I can play in the same tournaments and on the same courts as him. Everyone, as I always say, has their own path. He’s taken his, and he couldn’t have done any better, and I’ll try and take mine so that someday I can share the court with him and even try to catch him, why not?”, asks Llamas Ruiz.

Bidding to earn himself a place in the Top 100, Llamas Ruiz concludes with an interesting perspective on the legacy that his compatriots have left.

“People don’t appreciate what it is to be in the Top 140, Top 100 or Top 80 in the world. If you’re not in the Top 10 you’re not worth it,” he said. “Spain has always had great players in high positions, so if a Spaniard is at world number 110 it seems like they don’t know how to play tennis.”

In 2023, he has already claimed his first ATP Challenger title in Segovia, Spain and picked up his first ATP Tour win in Lyon [d. Max Purcell]. His next challenge is earning himself a place among the best of his generation at the end of the season in Jeddah.