Novak Djokovic will headline a star-studded doubles field at the Rolex Paris Masters, where he will compete alongside fellow Serbian Miomir Kecmanovic for the first time.

The six-time Paris singles champion has played doubles at Bercy on three previous occasions (2008, 2016, 2021) with three different partners. It will be Djokovic’s fourth doubles appearance of the season (also Adelaide-1, Cincinnati, Davis Cup).

The 36-year-old is not the only singles star who will take to the doubles court at the season’s final ATP Masters 1000 event. Karen Khachanov will play with Andrey Rublev, Jannik Sinner will compete with Stan Wawrinka, Felix Auger-Aliassime will partner Sebastian Korda and Jiri Lehecka will team with Ben Shelton.

The three doubles teams that have already qualified for the Nitto ATP Finals will lead the field. Defending champions Wesley Koolhof/Neal Skupski, Roland Garros winners Ivan Dodig/Austin Krajicek and US Open finalists Rohan Bopanna/Matthew Ebden will try to secure the title.

Other teams to watch include US Open champions Rajeev Ram/Joe Salisbury and Marcelo Melo/Alexander Zverev. The Rolex Paris Masters will be played from 30 October through 5 November.

Carlos Alcaraz has withdrawn from the Swiss Indoors Basel due to a left foot injury and muscle fatigue to his lower back, he confirmed on social media Wednesday.

“Unfortunately I will not be able to play in Basel this year! 🥲” Alcaraz posted on Instagram. “I have a problem with the plantar fascia in my left foot and muscle fatigue in my lower back which need treatment so I can play the rest of the season. I hope to see you all soon! @swissindoorsbasel_official”

 

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One year ago, Alcaraz made his Basel debut. He earned three wins before losing to eventual champion Felix Auger-Aliassime in the semi-finals.

Alcaraz owns a 63-9 record this season including six titles, with two coming at ATP Masters 1000 events (Indian Wells and Madrid) and another at Wimbledon. The 20-year-old last competed in Shanghai, where he lost in the Round of 16 to Grigor Dimitrov.

The Spaniard is entrenched in a battle for ATP Year-End No. 1 presented by Pepperstone with Novak Djokovic. Had Alcaraz won Basel and the 500 points that come with it, he would have entered the Rolex Paris Masters tied with Djokovic in the Pepperstone ATP Live Race To Turin.

Instead, Djokovic will retain the edge in the battle for year-end No. 1, an honour the Serbian has earned a record seven times. Last year, Alcaraz became the youngest year-end No. 1 in Pepperstone ATP Rankings history.

A typical part of almost every player’s daily routine is listening to music. But can the likes of Stefanos Tsitsipas, Carlos Alcaraz and Andrey Rublev identify which of their colleagues listen to what?

“Tell me man!” Rublev told a producer as he tried to figure out one playlist in particular.

“Guys, I’m a disaster!” Jannik Sinner said, cracking a smile as he struggled to come up with correct answers.

Some of the artists your favourite players listen to include The Weeknd, Linkin Park, Avicii, Eminem and Imagine Dragons. Who listens to which artists and songs?

Find out in Test The Tour’s ‘What’s In My Queue’ video below.

Jamie Murray and Michael Venus defeated the Japanese team of Takeru Yuzuki and Seita Watanabe to begin their crucial campaign at the Kinoshita Group Japan Open Tennis Championships on Wednesday. The British-Kiwi pair earned a 6-2, 6-7(8), 10-3 victory against the home favourites but were pushed to a Match Tie-break despite creating 12 break chances.

Murray and Venus are in 10th place in the Pepperstone ATP Live Doubles Teams Rankings. The team is just 85 points behind the current eighth-placed pair, Americans Nathaniel Lammons and Jackson Withrow, who are also into the Tokyo quarter-finals.

Marcelo Arevalo and Jean-Julien Rojer, currently in ninth place, also advanced on Wednesday at the ATP 500 with a 6-4, 6-4 victory against Austrians Alexander Erler and Lucas Miedler.

In addition to Murray and Venus, two other teams advanced to the quarter-finals via Match Tie-breaks. Australians Rinky Hijikata and Max Purcell edged Japan’s Shintaro Mochizuki and Rio Noguchi 5-7, 7-6(4), 10-5, and Ben McLachlan and Yoshihito Nishioka won an all-Japanese matchup against Taisei Ichikawa and Masamichi Imamura 6-3, 6-7(5), 10-7.

Tsitsipas Brothers Advance In Antwerp
Opening Wednesday’s play on centre court at the European Open, Petros Tsitsipas and Stefanos Tsitsipas knocked out fourth seeds Matwe Middelkoop and Andreas Mies 7-5, 6-3. The Greek brothers converted on both of their break points in the match while saving the only break chance against them.

Ariel Behar and Adam Pavlasek scored an even bigger upset on Court 1, taking out top seeds Santiago Gonzalez and Edouard Roger-Vasselin 6-3, 6-7(2), 10-7. Despite the defat, Gonzalez and Roger-Vasseline remain in strong position to qualify for Turin in sixth place in the Pepperstone ATP Live Doubles Teams Rankings.

Top Seeds Out In Stockholm
The top seeds at both of this week’s ATP 250s are out in the first round. At the BNP Paribas Nordic Open, Argentines Maximo Gonzalez and Andres Molteni were beaten by Andrey Golubev and Denys Molchanov, 7-5, 3-6, 10-7. The Kazakh-Ukrainian duo of Golubev and Molchanov saved six of eight break points in the upset win on centre court.

Second seeds Nikola Cacic and Mate Pavic were also dismissed in the opening round by Yuki Bhambri and Julian Cash, who opened play on Court 1 with a 6-4, 6-3 upset of their own.

Arthur Fils is up and running at the European Open in Antwerp.

The Frenchman overcame Estonia wild card Mark Lajal 7-6(4), 7-6(2) on Wednesday to reach his fifth tour-level quarter-final of the season after one hour and 59 minutes.

In a tight clash, Fils was impressive in the crucial moments, saving all eight break points he faced to earn victory on his debut at the ATP 250 hard-court event.

Fils, who is currently fifth in the Pepperstone ATP Live Race To Jeddah, has enjoyed a breakthrough season on Tour, highlighted by his first ATP Tour title in Lyon in May. The 19-year-old will continue the quest for his second trophy when he takes on Juan Pablo Varillas after the Peruvian defeated Alexander Shevchenko 3-6, 6-3, 6-2.

The 20-year-old Lajal clinched his first tour-level win in the first round against Jaume Munar.

In other action, Botic van de Zandschulp moved past #NextGenATP Swiss Dominic Stricker 6-7(4), 6-3, 6-3 to reach the second round at a tour-level event for the 12th time this season.

The Dutchman hammered two aces and saved both break points he faced to advance in two hours and 17 minutes. With his win, Van de Zandschulp levelled his Lexus ATP Head2Head series against Stricker at 1-1. The World No. 67 will next take on top seed Stefanos Tsitsipas at the ATP 250.

Nuno Borges also advanced, beating Dominik Koepfer 7-6(6), 6-4. The Portuguese, who reached the final at an ATP Challenger Tour event last week, will play Maximilian Marterer in the second round.

A bold new marketing campaign, On the Rise, has set the stage for the next era of the ATP Challenger Tour, the global launchpad of men’s professional tennis.

Developed by ATP and London-based marketing agency MATTA, the On the Rise campaign brings fans closer to the raw entertainment and drama of the world’s local tennis Tour. Headlined by an electrifying launch film, released today, the campaign combines stunning aesthetic design, colour palettes and photography treatment to hero the rise of the game’s next generation. This is paired with a tone of voice that is raw, intimate and optimistic — celebrating the hustle of players aspiring to reach the game’s highest levels.

On the Rise will provide Challenger Tour events with a full suite of new promotional assets, elevating the Tour’s diverse global calendar. Players too will be provided with custom assets to enhance their storytelling and boost their profiles. This is underpinned by record investment in Challenger Tour social, editorial and marketing resources delivered centrally by ATP.

Watch Launch Film:

The campaign builds atop a Challenger Tour rebrand earlier this season, which introduced a new logo. Its simplified, minimalistic design, inspired by distinctive lines of a tennis court, is optimised for usage across digital and social content, at-event and out-of-home branding.

Richard Glover, VP Challenger Tour said: “The Challenger Tour is all about ambition and the road to greatness. It’s where the biggest icons of our sport all started their journeys. It’s also one of the most raw and intimate experiences that fans can have of professional sport — with a presence that’s truly global. This new campaign brings these elements to the fore, giving us a powerful platform to elevate our incredible athletes and storytelling.”

On the Rise follows record-breaking enhancements to the Challenger Tour, which came into place in January 2023. At the close of the 2023 season these reforms will have delivered a record number of events, multi-million-dollar prize money increases and an optimised tournament calendar. This forms a central pillar of ATP’s long-term investment into strengthening the player pathway to the ATP Tour.

The ATP Challenger Tour is set to feature 196 tournaments across 45 countries in 2023.

Tommy Paul boosted his Nitto ATP Finals qualification hopes on Wednesday when he earned his 39th win of the season at the Kinoshita Group Japan Open Tennis Championships, matching his previous-best tally (2022).

The American overcame countryman Mackenzie McDonald 6-4, 6-2 at the ATP 500 event to reach his ninth quarter-final of the season and sixth on hard courts.

Paul was strong on serve throughout the 86-minute clash, winning 21 of 22 points behind his first delivery. The fifth seed did not face a break point and showed his athleticism by winning a series of lung-busting rallies where both pulled each other from corner to corner.

“We know each others games really well,” Paul said. “I have known him since I was 11 years old. Knowing him, I know I have to keep my foot on the gas as if you give him a little bit he takes a lot.”

Paul will continue the quest for his first title of the season when he takes on Ben Shelton in the quarter-finals. The 26-year-old is 12th in the Pepperstone ATP Live Race To Turin, 515 points behind Rune. If Paul wins his second tour-level trophy, he could rise to ninth if his direct rivals fall early in Tokyo.

Shelton continued his breakthrough season on Tour with a 6-7(5), 6-4, 6-3 win against Jordan Thompson. The 21-year-old American, who reached the semi-finals at the US Open in September, is into his fourth quarter-final of the year.

One of those rivals, Casper Ruud, lost on Wednesday in Japan. The Norwegian is 10th in the Pepperstone ATP Live Race, 220 points ahead of Paul.

That gap will not grow any further this week, though, after Marcos Giron defeated the second seed 6-3, 6-4 in one hour and 21 minutes to set a quarter-final clash against Felix Auger-Aliassime.

Giron rallied from 2-4 in the second set, rolling off the final four games to improve to 1-1 in his Lexus ATP Head2Head series against Ruud. Giron has earned three Top 10 wins, having defeated then-World No. 6 Holger Rune in August and then-World No. 10 Matteo Berrettini in 2020.

Is this the week Felix Auger-Aliassime finds his form?

The Canadian backed up his first-round win against Aleksandar Vukic with a 6-4, 6-1 triumph against Sebastian Ofner at the Kinoshita Group Japan Open Tennis Championships on Wednesday.

Auger-Aliassime arrived in Tokyo having won just twice in his past 11 outings. The last time he won consecutive matches was in Indian Wells in March, when he reached the quarter-finals.

The 23-year-old ensured that run would end in Japan, though, producing a clean-hitting display to down Ofner after one hour and 35 minutes. Auger-Aliassime rallied from a break down in a tight first set before he raced away in the second set, winning the final six games of the match.

“I need results like this,” Auger-Aliassime said. “I believe in my game and I believe in myself that I have what it takes to win at this level. I have done it before but it is about doing it and having a lot of belief and a positive mind. I am happy that my level is translating to the match court after a couple of months.”

Into his fifth tour-level quarter-final of the season, the World No. 17 will next face second seed Casper Ruud or American Marcos Giron.

In first-round action, Zhang Zhizhen earned revenge against Hubert Hurkacz. The Pole defeated Zhang en route to the title in Shanghai last week, but the Chinese star ensured history would not repeat itself at the ATP 500 hard-court event.

Zhang fired 10 aces, won 76 per cent (39/51) of his first-serve points and broke Hurkacz’s serve three times to advance 3-6, 6-4, 7-6(4) in two hours and 17 minutes.

Hurkacz rose to 11th in the Pepperstone ATP Live Race To Turin following the run to his second ATP Masters 1000 title in Shanghai. The Pole is 335 points behind eighth-placed Holger Rune, who currently occupies the final qualification spot. His defeat is a major dent to his Nitto ATP Finals qualification hopes.

The 27-year-old Zhang is enjoying the best season of his career, having earned 19 tour-level wins. He became the first ATP Masters 1000 quarter-finalist from China in May in Madrid and in July rose to No. 52 in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings, the highest position ever held by anyone from the East Asian country. He beat Casper Ruud at the US Open to become the first Chinese man to beat a Top 5 opponent.

Aiming to make more waves this week, he will next face Aslan Karatsev.

Tommy Paul kept alive his Nitto ATP Finals qualification hopes with a 6-4, 6-2 win against Mackenzie McDonald. The American is 12th in the Pepperstone ATP Live Race To Turin, 515 points behind Rune. If Paul wins his first title of the season this week, he could rise to ninth if his direct rivals fall early in Tokyo.

Paul has now earned 39 wins this year, matching his previous personal-best tally (2022). He will aim to make it 40 wins when he plays Ben Shelton or Jordan Thompson in the quarter-finals.

Dominic Thiem flipped the script emphatically on Luca Nardi Tuesday night in Antwerp to seal a hard-earned first-round win at the European Open.

The former World No. 3 Thiem at one point trailed by a set and a break but recovered for a 3-6, 7-6(7), 6-2 triumph at the Belgian indoor ATP 250. The Austrian clinched a crucial break of serve to level at 3-3 in the second set and that proved the catalyst for an increasingly commanding Thiem display as Nardi faded after a bright start in their maiden Lexus ATP Head2Head meeting.

“It was a very tough match. It’s always interesting to play against a great player for the very first time,” said Thiem. “I have the feeling it’s pretty fast conditions. We both served well. I needed to adjust a little bit to adjust to the surface and I was a set and a break down, and then I was able to turn it around.

“I played a great tie-break, which got close at the end and then the third set was really good. I’m really happy.”

With his two-hour, 28-minute victory, Thiem snapped an eight-match tour-level losing streak against Italian opponents. The Austrian was two points from defeat on two occasions in the second-set tie-break but did not lose his nerve and later dominated a deciding set in which he did not face a break point.

Thiem is now 17-20 for the year, a tally that includes a championship-match run in Kitzbühel. The 17-time tour-level titlist will take on fifth seed Yannick Hanfmann in the second round after the German beat home qualifier Alexander Blockx 6-4, 7-6(3).

Alexander Shevchenko prevailed in a tense clash with Benjamin Bonzi to make a winning start to his maiden Antwerp campaign. The World No. 84 claimed a 6-7(5), 7-6(5), 6-3 first-round triumph against France’s Bonzi. Shevchenko’s aggressive approach paid off in the latter stages of the pair’s first Lexus ATP Head2Head clash as he powered 46 winners to Bonzi’s 31.

It was a 10th tour-level win for Shevchenko, who had not won a match at that level prior to April in Barcelona. The 22-year-old, who reached a career-high No. 83 in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings in August, will take on Juan Pablo Varillas next after the Peruvian beat Fabian Marozsan 7-6(7), 6-4.

Also on Tuesday, #NextGenATP Frenchman Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard claimed his maiden ATP Tour victory by upsetting sixth seed Roberto Carballes Baena 0-6, 6-3, 7-6(4). The 20-year-old Mpetshi Perricard, who made his tour-level debut as a wild card at Roland Garros in May, recovered from a nightmare start to set a second-round appointment with home favourite David Goffin.

Serving 🆙 a shock 🇫🇷@MpetshiG saves match point to take down (6) Carballes Baena for a maiden tour level triumph@EuroTennisOpen | #EuropeanOpen pic.twitter.com/xcLPLapEd7

— ATP Tour (@atptour) October 17, 2023

Maximilian Marterer notched an early upset on his Antwerp debut as the German downed seventh seed Richard Gasquet 6-3, 6-4. It was a second Top 100 win of the season for the 28-year-old Marterer, who will face countryman Dominik Koepfer or Nuno Borges next.

After 12 years away, Stan Wawrinka wasted no time getting back to business in Stockholm on Tuesday night.

The 38-year-old Swiss defeated Borna Gojo 7-5, 6-4 in the first round at the BNP Paribas Nordic Open to become the oldest player to win a match at the indoor ATP 250 since a then-39-year-old Jimmy Connors in 1991. Wawrinka converted three of 10 break points he earned to wrap a 91-minute triumph in his maiden Lexus ATP Head2Head meeting with Gojo.

Wawrinka previously competed in Stockholm in 2010, when he reached the quarter-finals, and in 2011. The former World No. 3 is now 26-19 for the season and will chase his fourth tour-level quarter-final appearance of the year when he meets lucky loser Tomas Machac next in Sweden.

Stanimal strikes 💥@stanwawrinka | #StockholmOpen pic.twitter.com/sKiY6RnRBv

— ATP Tour (@atptour) October 17, 2023

The BNP Paribas Nordic Open is not quite a home tournament for Emil Ruusuvuori, but it is not far off.

The World No. 61 made a lightning-fast start to his campaign Tuesday in Stockholm with a 6-2, 6-1 triumph against qualifier Benjamin Hassan. Ruusuvuori, who hails from neighbouring Finland, was delighted with his 57-minute triumph in his first competitive match since he spearheaded his country’s successful Davis Cup Finals Group Stage campaign more than four weeks ago.

“I’m very happy with the performance,” said Ruusuvuori. “I had a couple of weeks off from the Tour, so it’s good to start this way with such a solid performance. It’s a special place to be… For me it’s one of the best weeks for sure. I really like Stockholm, it’s a place that I could possibly even live in and for my friends and family it is easy to come and see.”

Ruusuvuori will play third seed Tallon Griekspoor in the second round in Stockholm, where he reached the semi-finals in 2022. Griekspoor holds a 2-0 Lexus ATP Head2Head lead against the Finn, with those victories taking place this season in ‘s-Hertogenbosch and at the Davis Cup Finals Group Stage.

There was a trio of upsets earlier in the day in Stockholm. J.J. Wolf defeated fifth seed Sebastian Baez 7-6(5), 6-2 at the indoor ATP 250 to set a meeting with Laslo Djere, who beat home wild card Leo Borg 6-3, 6-3. Qualifier Pavel Kotov kept his cool to oust seventh seed Christopher Eubanks 6-7(2), 6-3, 7-6(5) in two hours, 28 minutes. The World No. 109’s reward is a second-round clash with Lorenzo Sonego.

Eighth seed Daniel Evans also fell at the first hurdle in Sweden. Austrian qualifier Filip Misolic beat the Washington champion 6-4, 7-6(1) to set a second-round appointment with Gael Monfils or Marton Fucsovics.