Sinner, Alcaraz chasing glory; Turin spots up for grabs: Paris Scouting Report

The Rolex Paris Masters, the season’s final ATP Masters 1000 event, is here. There are plenty of storylines to follow, from Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz chasing maiden glory at the tournament to the intense PIF ATP Live Race To Turin.

ATPTour.com looks at 10 things to watch at Bercy.

1) Who will qualify for Turin? Four singles places remain at the Nitto ATP Finals, with Sinner, Alcaraz, Alexander Zverev and Daniil Medvedev already guaranteed a spot at the season finale. Who will join them? Taylor Fritz, who made the semi-finals on his debut in 2022, will try to return to Inalpi Arena. The American is fifth in the PIF ATP Live Race To Turin. Among those competing in Paris are seventh-placed Casper Ruud (3,845 points), Andrey Rublev (3,720) and Alex de Minaur (3,555), who are all jockeying for position.

2) Sinner top seed: The Italian has already clinched ATP Year-End No. 1 presented by PIF honours. The 23-year-old has won seven tour-level titles this year and will attempt to claim an eighth this week in Paris. He has tallied a 1-2 record in the tournament, including a loss to Alcaraz in his debut in 2021. Sinner will begin his event against Ben Shelton or a qualifier/lucky loser.

3) Alcaraz’s Paris push: Two years ago, Alcaraz earned his best Rolex Paris Masters result, reaching the quarter-finals. Will he advance deeper this edition? The Spaniard, who is the second seed, will play Nicolas Jarry or a qualifier/lucky loser in his opening match. Alcaraz has won four titles this year, most recently claiming the crown in Beijing.

4) Fils & Humbert flying for France: #NextGenATP star Arthur Fils and Ugo Humbert, who are good friends, recently played in an all-French Tokyo final, which Fils won. Will one of the home favourites make a big run on home soil at Bercy? Fils, who played his first ATP Tour main draw at this event two years ago, will take on former World No. 3 Marin Cilic in the first round. Humbert, who will try to use his big lefty serve to his advantage indoors, is the 15th seed and will play Brandon Nakashima.

Watch Tokyo Final Highlights:

5) Former champs Medvedev, Rune & Khachanov: Medvedev (2020), Holger Rune (2022) and Karen Khachanov (2018) are the former Rolex Paris Masters champions in the field. Fourth seed Medvedev will face a tricky opener against former Top 10 star Matteo Berrettini or Montreal champion Alexei Popyrin. Thirteenth seed Rune opens against Matteo Arnaldi and Khachanov, fresh off his run to the Vienna final, will play Pablo Carreno Busta. Khachanov leads their Lexus ATP Head2Head series 6-3.

6) French wild cards: The wild cards in the singles draw are Richard Gasquet, Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard, Adrian Mannarino and Arthur Rinderknech. Gasquet will compete at the Rolex Paris Masters for the final time ahead of his retirement at 2025 Roland Garros. The former No. 7 in the PIF ATP Rankings has competed in the event 16 times. Mpetshi Perricard’s rise has been one of the stories of 2024, with his huge serve stymying all styles of opponent.

7) Draper surging: One year ago, Jack Draper was No. 91 in the PIF ATP Rankings, forcing him to compete at an ATP Challenger Tour event instead of in Paris. Now he arrives at the season’s final Masters 1000 event as No. 15 in the PIF ATP Live Rankings and fresh off an ATP 500 victory in Vienna. The lefty plays Jiri Lehecka in the first round.

8) Zverev seeks another title: Zverev has already won one Masters 1000 title this season in Rome. A six-time Masters 1000 titlist overall, the German will try to add a Paris trophy to his resume. The third seed made the final at Bercy in 2020. He faces Luciano Darderi or Tallon Griekspoor in his opening match.

9) Doubles spots for Turin up for grabs: Four doubles teams have qualified for the Nitto ATP Finals: Marcel Granollers/Horacio Zeballos, Marcelo Arevalo/Mate Pavic, Simone Bolelli/Andrea Vavassori and Max Purcell/Jordan Thompson. Who will join them in Turin? Two 2024 Grand Slam champions, Rohan Bopanna/Matthew Ebden and Harri Heliovaara/Henry Patten are in good position. Wesley Koolhof/Nikola Mektic are fifth in the PIF ATP Live Doubles Teams Rankings and Kevin Krawietz/Tim Puetz are seventh.

10) Granollers/Zeballos top seeds, singles stars playing doubles: Marcel Granollers and Horacio Zeballos are the top seeds in the doubles draw and Marcelo Arevalo and Mate Pavic are the second seeds. There will be plenty of singles stars to watch in doubles, too. Fritz is competing with Ben Shelton, Ruud is playing alongside Tomas Machac and Fils with Mpetshi Perricard among others.

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