The Paris Masters has already claimed two victims after an astonishing day of shocks at the tournament with Novak Djokovic looking the hot favourite to land the title once again. The Serbian is in action against Tallon Griekspoor on Thursday after breezing past Tomas Martin Etchevarry and he has already seen Carlos Alcaraz and Daniil Medvedev crash out as he targets a seventh title.
Alcaraz struggled for fitness after complaining of feeling unwell during his straight-sets defeat to qualifier Romain Safiullin as the 20-year-old experienced an unusually early exit from the tournament.
But he was soon joined by Daniil Medvedev, who was stunned by the Bulgarian maestro Grigor Dimitrov on Wednesday. The Russian also clashed with the umpire and crowd during a fiesty encounter before his 3-6, 7-6, 6-7 loss was made official.
That will give encouragement to the likes of Jannik Sinner, with the No 4 seed facing Andy Murray’s conqueror Alex de Minaur in what could prove to be a tight clash. But the tie of the round sees Stefanos Tsitsipas take on Alexander Zverev in the battle of the big servers on Centre Court.
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Djokovic fires Alcaraz warning
Novak Djokovic has laid out his two main dreams as a tennis player with a coded warning to Carlos Alcaraz as he looks to break another record before the end of 2023.
The 24-time major champion, who has held the top spot for a record 397 weeks, is closing in on 400 weeks at the top. And the 36-year-old has told his rivals that his two main objectives were to be No 1 and win Wimbledon – something he is hoping to achieve in 2024 after his defeat to Alcaraz this year at SW19.
In sharing some of his career-best memories and what has kept his fire ignited in the latest ATP Uncovered ‘Legacy’ feature, Djokovic said: “I was never satisfied with anything else but No. 1.
“I always wanted to win Wimbledon and be No. 1. Those were the two childhood dreams.”
Good morning!
Hello and welcome back to Express Sport’s LIVE coverage from this year’s Paris Masters.
We’ve had some shocks already this week with Carlos Alcaraz’s exit on Tuesday and Daniil Medvedev crashing out yesterday.
Novak Djokovic has looked in superb form so far, will he continue that run today? Stay tuned for live updates throughout the day!
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