Novak Djokovic came from a set down to beat Valentin Vacherot 6-7 (5), 7-5, 6-1 in the first round of the Paris Masters on Tuesday. At 39, the Serbian became the oldest player to win a match in the tournament’s history. The win keeps alive his bid to reach the ATP Finals in Turin, Italy. He now faces Australia’s Rinky Hijikata in the second round.
It was no routine opener for a seven-time Paris champion. Djokovic, seeded 10th and without a first-round bye, drew the hottest player on the indoor swing. Vacherot of Monaco won the Swiss Indoors title in Basel on Sunday, and he beat Djokovic in the Shanghai Masters semifinals last year on the way to his first Masters 1000 title.
Vacherot hit 22 aces to Djokovic’s six and took the first set in a tiebreak. He broke in the opening game of the second set to lead 2-0, putting Djokovic a set and a break down. Djokovic broke back for 2-2. Serving at 4-4, he saved three break points that would have let Vacherot serve for the match, then broke again to level at one set apiece.
Both players took medical timeouts during the second set. Djokovic received treatment on his right shoulder, and Vacherot had his left ankle strapped. The deciding set was one-sided. Djokovic broke at the start, built a 3-0 lead and closed it out 6-1 on his second match point with a two-handed backhand winner down the line. The match lasted more than two and a half hours.
Djokovic said the speed of the court made Vacherot’s serve especially hard to handle. “His second serves are faster than my first serves, so it’s very tough to play a guy in these conditions, which are really, really fast,” he said. “For a set and a half, I had difficulty reading his serve,” Djokovic added. “Even if I guessed right, it was coming with some speed.”
The stakes in Paris go beyond one match. Djokovic arrived 11th in the race to Turin after a loss in Basel last week, and the Paris Masters is the last Masters 1000 event of the season. With Jannik Sinner injured and out for the rest of the year, ninth place in the race is the final qualifying spot for the eight-player ATP Finals, which run Nov. 15-22.
By the race math, Djokovic needs to reach at least the semifinals in Paris to stay in contention, and only the title would guarantee his place. Spain’s Rafael Jódar, who opened his Paris campaign with a win over Alejandro Tabilo, holds ninth place. Djokovic played down the Turin chase after the win. Asked whether qualifying was his main motivation in Paris, he said no, and that he is taking the tournament one match at a time.
That is a shift from last month, when he called Turin his goal after winning the title in Beijing and took a wildcard into Basel to chase points. His season has swung between those highs and setbacks such as his early US Open exit against Argentina’s Mariano Navone. His path in Paris does not get easier. Australia’s Alex de Minaur, seeded eighth, could wait in the third round, and top seed Alexander Zverev, who clinched the year-end No. 1 ranking in Shanghai, is the projected quarterfinal opponent.
Hijikata reached the second round by beating Italy’s Luciano Darderi. Whether or not Djokovic reaches Turin, the Australian Open in January looms as his next major test, at the Grand Slam he has won a record 10 times.
