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Sinner begins bid to retake World No. 1 with silky Paris win

A different European city, a different indoor arena, but a very familiar march to victory for Jannik Sinner.

Just four days after he lifted an ATP 500 crown in Vienna, the No. 2 in the PIF ATP Rankings kick-started his Rolex Paris Masters title bid with a commanding 6-4, 6-2 triumph against Zizou Bergs. Sinner produced a typically assured all-around performance to overwhelm his Belgian opponent in the pair’s maiden Lexus ATP Head2Head meeting and extend his tour-level winning streak on indoor hard courts to 22 matches.

The Streak Continues! 👏@janniksin extends his winning streak to 22 matches on indoor hard courts with a straight sets win over Bergs in Paris#RolexParisMasters pic.twitter.com/4ArpltcFrK

— ATP Tour (@atptour) October 29, 2025

The signs of struggle for Bergs were evident early at La Défense Arena, where he fended off four break points but was still unable to deny Sinner a break of serve in a 12-minute opening game. That was enough to set the Italian on his way to the first set and another break in the first game of the second set also proved decisive.

The second-seeded Sinner was authoritative behind his own serve throughout the match. He did not face a break point and won 77 per cent (24/31) of points behind his first delivery, according to Infosys ATP Stats, en route to setting a third-round meeting with Francisco Cerundolo. The Argentine earlier overcame Miomir Kecmanovic 7-5, 1-6, 7-6(4).

With his 88-minute win against Bergs, Sinner kept alive his hopes of capitalising on Carlos Alcaraz’s early Paris loss in the battle for World No. 1: The Italian can return to top spot next Monday if he can lift his first Masters 1000 title of the season.

“I felt like mostly the movement [was good],” said Sinner. “It’s a very unique court here. Usually I always struggled a bit, so I’m very happy to come through the first match. I’m very happy how I served today. I was very precise, and I also started off with a break straight away, which gives you a bit more confidence. I’m very happy about today’s performance.”

Sinner’s straightforward victory was in stark contrast to the opening match of the day on Court Central. In a rematch of the Rolex Shanghai Masters final from earlier this month, Valentin Vacherot again overcame his cousin Arthur Rinderknech in a three-set battle to extend his Masters 1000 winning streak to nine matches.

“Arthur plays very well right now. It wasn’t easy from beginning to the end,” said Vacherot, who is up three spots to No. 37 in the PIF ATP Live Rankings after reaching the third round on his Paris debut. “[It was not easy]. I had a lot of errors as well today. Not everything was perfect.

“Had I won in straight sets 6-1, 6-2, it would have been a different story but it’s not the case. But I have a lot of confidence in myself, that’s for sure.”

Watch Highlights Of Vacherot & Rinderknech’s Paris Rematch

Vacherot will take on Alcaraz’s conqueror, Cameron Norrie for a quarter-final berth in Paris. Daniil Medvedev also advanced on Wednesday after his second-round opponent, Grigor Dimitrov, was forced to withdraw before their match due to a right shoulder injury.

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Auger-Aliassime rallies in Paris, keeps Turin hopes alive

The 2025 Nitto ATP Finals remain on Felix Auger-Aliassime’s radar, but only just.

With his hopes of reaching the prestigious season finale hanging by a thread on Wednesday at the Rolex Paris Masters, the Canadian rallied to a nail-biting 5-7, 7-6(5), 7-6(4) win against Alexandre Muller to stay in the Turin hunt.

Watch Auger-Aliassime’s Magic Moment To Kick-start Paris Comeback:

Auger-Aliassime stepped on court at Paris’ La Défense Arena knowing that a second-round exit to home favourite Muller at the indoor ATP Masters 1000 would end his hopes of a top-eight finish in the PIF ATP Live Race To Turin. The ninth seed soon found himself a set and a break down, but he was able to hold on for a crucial victory despite delivering a wildly inconsistent display overall.

The 25-year-old Auger-Aliassime fired 50 winners, including 21 aces, but his efforts were undermined by his 55 unforced errors. In contrast, Muller struck 20 winners and made just 24 unforced errors, but the World No. 44 was unable to find a path to victory after letting slip a 2-0, 40/30 lead in the second set.

Auger-Aliassime missed a match point on return at 6-5, 30/40 in the deciding set but later won seven of the final eight points of the match to recover from 0/3 in the deciding-set tie-break and seal his three-hour, five-minute triumph. With his Tour-leading 80th indoor win this decade, the Canadian moved within 390 points of eight-placed Lorenzo Musetti in the Live Race.

Auger-Aliassime will next aim to maintain the pressure on Italy’s Musetti when he takes on Daniel Altmaier in the third round. Altmaier earlier ended the Nitto ATP Finals qualification hopes of 11th-placed Casper Ruud with a 6-3, 7-5 upset.

Defending champion Alexander Zverev was also forced to dig deep to book his third-round spot. The German rallied past Camilo Ugo Carabelli 6-7(5), 6-1, 7-5 to extend his Rolex Paris Masters winning streak to six matches and improve to 2-0 in his Lexus ATP Head2Head series with the Argentine.

Watch Highlights Of Zverev’s Hard-earned Paris Win

“Definitely [a good win],” said Zverev, who was competing just four days after his Vienna championship-match defeat to Jannik Sinner, in his post-match interview. “Especially after a tough [loss] last week. To come out here, and I didn’t expect him to play the way he did, to be perfectly honest.

“It’s something I have to learn from. I played him in Rome, and he was nowhere near that level. That’s a mistake from me. I have to prepare better for my opponents, but he was fantastic today.”

Zverev leapfrogged Novak Djokovic into third in the PIF ATP Live Race To Turin as a result of his two-hour, 36-minute triumph against Ugo Carabelli. Already qualified for the Nitto ATP Finals, he will next take on 15th seed Alejandro Davidovich Fokina, who downed home wild card Arthur Cazaux 7-6(5), 6-4, in the French capital.

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The Handover: Puppets pull the strings on ATP Tour

It all started as a simple idea. Alex de Minaur, Taylor Fritz and Lorenzo Musetti had been grinding through the ATP Tour season, chasing PIF ATP Rankings points, trophies and sleep in equal measure.

Somewhere between a training block and a long-haul flight, a thought struck De Minaur: what if someone else could handle press conferences, photoshoots and fan content — so we could stay focused on the tennis?

Enter: the puppets.

#TheHandover: How it all started… 

At first, the plan seemed foolproof. The handmade doubles of the trio — complete with miniature racquets, finely stitched hair, and a surprising amount of attitude — were brought to lighten the load. The players could train; the puppets could perform. Simple. Effective. Genius, even.

It all began at the Rolex Paris Masters. But as the cameras rolled, something unexpected happened. The puppets weren’t content to be background characters. They started improvising, talking back, and they were so realistic that they started stealing the spotlight.

_{^{The puppets meet in Paris. Photo: Corinne Dubreuil/ATP Tour}}

Still, in classic ATP Tour fashion, everyone’s taking it in stride.

The Handover has become the latest must-watch social series. Stay tuned on the ATP Tour’s Instagram account to find out who is really running the show.

The puppets aren’t saying much, though they’ll see you on Tour.

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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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