When you subscribe we will use the information you provide to send you these newsletters. Sometimes they'll include recommendations for other related newsletters or services we offer. Our Privacy Notice explains more about how we use your data, and your rights. You can unsubscribe at any time. Sign up forfor news on the biggest players and tournaments Federer, 37, has skipped the final Masters event of the season for the last two years because of his need to manage his schedule more carefully. However, he will join Nadal and Djokovic at the competition in the French capital next week. All three players are seeded so have been handed a bye for the opening round. But Federer will then face either former world No 3 Milos Raonic or Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in the second round. The Swiss star is also in the same quarter as his Wimbledon conqueror Kevin Anderson.<doc-sep>After a fascinating season at the ATP Masters 1000s, where there was a great mix of some first-time winners and the usual suspects, we have arrived at the final destination in Paris with some exciting storylines. And who would have thought that the man that came in with the most question marks at the first Masters 1000 of the season at Indian Wells, will be the man to beat here in Paris -- Novak Djokovic. The Serb is on some serious hot streak, winning his last 18 matches, with 26 sets in a row and is looking ever so hungry and motivated to capture that World No. 1 ranking before the season ends. He can do it next week itself as he is just 215 points behind Rafael Nadal in the 52-week rankings, who is defending 180 of those points right here due to his quarter-final appearance last year. The race will be even more heated as the current World No. 1 Rafael Nadal is back in play for the first time after retiring in the US Open semi-final vs Del Potro. Although Nadal has not done exceedingly well for his standards at this part of the season historically, he is coming in very well rested, and every time after coming off a break this season, he has arrived with full throttle. But there is a lot more on the line this week than the race for the World No. 1. The race for London is heating up nicely and after the injury to Del Potro, who will most likely miss the season-ending finale, there are still 4 spots up for grabs. Although these are the most exciting storylines, there is much more in play before the end of the season as a lot of people will be fighting for the seedings and direct main draw positions for the Australian Open 2019. And central to all these storylines is how the draw will fare for these players. So, without much delay, let’s break down the draw: First Quarter Rafael Nadal is the top seed and leads this quarter, attempting to hold on to his No. 1 ranking and he will have his hands full in doing so. He will face either Jeremy Chardy or fellow Spaniard Fernando Verdasco in his opener. Then, he is likely to face either Richard Gasquet or Denis Shapovalov in the R16. In the quarters, he will face the winner of a very tight section, featuring Borna Coric, Daniil Medvedev, Lucas Pouille, and Dominic Thiem. The Pick: Rafael Nadal Second Quarter: Alexander Zverev is the highest ranked player in this quarter and has landed himself a pretty decent draw. In the opener, he is likely to face young gun Frances Tiafoe. Next up, he will probably face either Alex De Minaur or Diego Schwartzmann. Then in the quarters, he will face the winner of another tough little section, featuring Kyle Edmund, Karen Khachanov, and London hopeful John Isner. The Pick: Alexander Zverev Third Quarter: Roger Federer leads this quarter, playing here for the first time since 2015 and has a pretty tough draw. He will play the winner of Milos Raonic and Jo-Wilfred Tsonga in his opening round. Then, he is likely to face either Marton Fucsovics or Fabio Fognini in the R16. And in the quarters, he will face the winner of another interesting section, that includes Nikoloz Basilashvilli, Kevin Anderson, and Kei Nishikori. The Pick: Kei Nishikori Fourth Quarter: The red-hot Novak Djokovic is the top seed in this quarter and he has got himself a tricky draw here. He is likely to open up against Marco Cecchinato, who got served up a bagel by the Serb in Shanghai. Then, he will most probably face the in-form Stefanos Tsitsipas in the R16. In the Quarter-Finals, he is likely to face another London hopeful in Marin Cilic. The Pick: Novak Djokovic Semi-Finals: Rafael Nadal v Alexander Zverev The Pick: The court and the conditions will favour the German here and with the way he has been playing post the US Open, he sits in a pretty good position to cause the upset over Nadal to move into another Masters final. Novak Djokovic v Kei Nishikori The Pick: Even though Kei Nishikori has played some brilliant tennis this season, Novak Djokovic has been the one standing in his way more often than not. And this time again, the Serb will come out on top to march into yet another Masters final. The Final: Novak Djokovic v Alexander Zverev The Pick: Last time these two played, Djokovic handed Zverev a pretty harsh lesson. This time, Zverev would have learnt a lot from his mistakes, but beating the Serb might still be a little too much to ask for from the German as Novak Djokovic will go on to lift yet another Masters title and snatch the No. 1 ranking from Rafael Nadal, to go into the season-ending finale as officially the best player in the world. Exciting potential early round matchups: Richard Gasquet v Denis Shapovalov Borna Coric v Daniil Medvedev Alex De Minaur v Diego Schwartzmann Kyle Edmund v Karen Khachanov Kevin Anderson v Nikoloz Basilashvilli Milos Raonic v Jo-Wilfred Tsonga Roger Federer v Jo-Wilfred Tsonga/Milos Raonic<doc-sep>Ridiculous 1st Rd Tests for Nadal, Federer, Seeds at ATP Paris Masters by Staff | The 47th edition of the Paris Masters features a ridiculous number of floaters posing opening-round threats to the 16 seeded players, including tough starts for Rafael Nadal, Dominic Thiem, Alexander Zverev and Roger Federer. ADHEREL American Jack Sock will be tested to defend his title and avoid a huge rankings plunge. The final two spots for the ATP Finals will be determined this week as the ATP regular season comes to an end. ROLEX PARIS MASTERS PARIS, France; surface: indoor hard Seeds: Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic, Roger Federer, Alexander Zverev, Marin Cilic, Dominic Thiem, Kevin Anderson, John Isner, Grigor Dimitrov, Kei Nishikori, Borna Coric, Kyle Edmund, Fabio Fognini, Stefanos Tsitsipas, Diego Schwartzman, Jack Sock Floaters: Fernando “Hot Sauce” Verdasco, Richard Gasquet, Denis Shapovalov, Daniil Medvedev, Gilles Simon, Lucas “Everyone Out of the” Pouille, Frances Tiafoe, (Q) Nicolas Mahut, (Q) Felicoano “F-Lo” Lopez, Alex De Minuar, Karen Khachanov, (Q) Benoit Paire, Milos Raonic, (Q) Jo-Wilfried Tsonga Notes: All 16 seeds receive opening-round byes… Opening-round match-ups of note include (1) Nadal vs. countryman Hot Sauce, (16) Sock vs. the Gasquet-Shapovalov winner, (11) Coric vs. Medvedev, (6) Thiem vs. the all-French Simon-Pouille winner, (4) Zverev vs. the Tiafoe-Mahut winner, (15) Schwatzman vs. the Lopez-De Minuar winner, (13) Fognini vs. Paire, (12) Edmund vs. Khachanov, and (3) Federer vs. the Raonic-Tsonga winner… Wildcards were allotted to Frenchmen Pierre-Hugues Herbert, Ugo Humbert and Tsonga… Withdrawing from the field were Chung Hyeon, Juan Martín del Potro, David Goffin and Nick Kyrgios… Jack Sock, finishing off a disastrous 2018, is getting ready to take a potential further plunge down the ATP rankings as the defending champion, in last year’s final coming from a set down to defeat Filip Krajinovic… Former champions in the field are Sock (2017), Djokovic (2015-13,’09), Federer (2011), and Tsonga (2008). Did You Know? Only Novak Djokovic has been able to successfully defend the long-standing Paris Masters title, winning three years in a row (2015-13). Winning then losing in the following year’s final were six players: Stan Smith (1972-73, lost to Ilie Nastase), Boris Becker (1989-90, lost to Stefan Edberg), Guy Forget (1991-92, lost to Boris Becker), Pete Sampras (1997-98, lost to Greg Rusedski), David Nalbandian (2007-08, lost to Jo-Wilfried Tsonga), and David Ferrer (2012-13, lost to Novak Djokovic).<doc-sep>The Rolex Paris Masters draw will be released on Friday evening, and at the moment Juan Martin del Potro was the only top player who withdrew. In a brief chat to Tennis World USA, the Tournament Director Guy Forget has given the latest updates about Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer's appearances. The Spaniard, who has been sidelined from the competition due to a knee injury, is currently training in Mallorca and will reach Paris this weekend. He will train there and then accordingly on how he feels both physically and tennis-wise he will take a decision. Nadal is set to open his campaign on Wednesday, providing he plays. No news on Federer: he is still competing at the Swiss Indoors in Basel and only afterwards the 20-time Major winner will take a call. 'Like every year', Forget added. He has not been playing in Paris since 2015. Novak Djokovic instead will definitely play the Rolex Paris Masters, and after some training sessions in Monte Carlo he will soon reach the French event. Djokovic won 2009, 2013, 2014, 2015 titles here. For Nadal, the final part of the year is very important and that's why the Spanish player is giving his best in order to compete again in time for the Rolex Paris Masters that starts on Monday. Nadal already skipped the Davis Cup semifinals tie between France and Spain, then Beijing and Shanghai. Since his withdrawal on September 7 in the US Open semifinals against Juan Martin del Potro, Nadal closely followed the doctor Angel Ruiz Cotorro. Nadal went through a treatment, and worked at the gym and in the pool with his physioterapist Rafael Maymò and fitness trainer Joan Forcades. On the indoor hard-courts Nadal has the worst win/loss percentage per surface, 68.1%, and the ATP Finals are the only big title missing on his achievements list. He is back to practice a couple of weeks ago with one of his coaches Carlos Moya, but they did not promote it on social media channels. ALSO READ: Maria Sharapova reveals how tennis keeps her motivated<doc-sep>
The Bercy draw came out yesterday and the big question now is will Federer play after winning his 9th Basel title. The Swiss hasn't played at the Paris Masters since 2015 where he lost to Isner. You can see his projected opponents below. Federer's Projected Opponents Round 1: Bye Round 2: Milos Raonic / Jo-Wilfried Tsonga Round 3: Fabio Fognini Quarter Final: Kevin Anderson / Kei Nishikori Semi Final: Novak Djokovic Final: Rafael Nadal Full .PDF draw Thought on the Draw After the first round bye, Roger will get his campaign underway on Wednesday against either Milos Raonic or Jo-Wilfried Tsonga. That's a tough opener but Raonic hasn't won a match in three tournaments and looks way below his the player from 2 seasons ago. Is the 27-year-old past his best or just having a tough year with injuries? As for Tsonga, he's in a similar boat having barely played since February and he's won just one match in his last two tournaments losing to Monfils and Querrey respectively. I'm not sure who comes through that match or who Roger would rather face. Raonic is probably the favourite and he's the trickier opponent with his serve and I guess if you asked Fed who he would rather face he'd pick Tsonga. Either way it's a tricky opener and could easily go three sets. Round 2 will likely be either Fabio Fognini or Marton Fuscovics. Fognini has been dealing with an ankle problem since the Asian Swing and he's never been past the 2nd Round in Bercy either so I'd pick Fucsovics to come through his first two rounds. Maybe Paire can produce something on home soil so he's also got a shot. Will any of those three trouble Fed? Doubtful but you never know, he faced similar calibre players in Basel and dropped sets so nothings a given and Fucsovics played a decent enough match against the Swiss at this years Australian Open. For the Quarters the two Vienna finalists are in this section; Kei Nishikori and Kevin Anderson. Big Kev beat Kei in straight sets at the Erste Bank Open and qualified for London in doing so. Maybe Anderson has got one eye on his maiden O2 appearance to give Paris his full attention but I make him the favourite in that quarter as he's had a very solid year. Nishikori has to make the semi-finals in Paris to stand a chance of qualifying for London so he certainly has something to play for should he want to extend his season by another a week. He did make the final in Vienna with a couple of decent wins against Khachanov and Thiem but Roger showed he has the measure of him in Shanghai. Based on that I think the South African will be a much tougher opponent should they meet and it would be interesting to see if Fed can avenge the Wimbledon loss. The semi-finals see the in-form Djokovic as the top seed and based on recent results it's tough not see him coming through that section and making the final. Cilic is in there but he's badly out of form and Tsitsipas is the only other notable. Dimitrov is in there too but he's quickly becoming a non-factor. Nadal is back after his injury at the US Open so he's the top seed in the other half. I have no idea if he's fully recovered or being practising at his usual intensity. He's only ever made the final once in Paris, 11 years ago, so it's tough to label him as a favourite. Zverev is also in this half and he should be looking to make a deep run so I'd back him to make the final here assuming Jack Sock doesn't produce a miracle to defend his crown from last year 🙂 What do you guys make of the draw? Will Federer play? He said he will decide tomorrow most likely after a nights sleep.