By Chris Oddo | @TheFanChild | Friday October 27, 2023
The draw for the final Masters 1000 event of 2023 is set.
It should be a wildly entertaining week of tennis in the city of light, with several spots in the ATP’s year-ending final still yet to be claimed, as well as the return of Novak Djokovic and Carlos Alcaraz on the big stage.
Here’s the full draw:
Now, for a look at some of the key storylines to come in Paris.
Djokovic, Alcaraz Bid for No.1
World No.1 six-time Paris conquerer Djokovic will defend his runner-up points in Paris (loss to Rune in the 2022 final), commencing his tournament with a second-round clash with either Miomir Kecmanovic or Tomas Martin Etcheverry (after a bye).
The World No.1 leads Alcaraz by 500 points in the Race to Turin standings.
Here is Djokovic’s potential path to glory, if the seeds hold:
R2 (after bye) - Kecmanovic or Etcheverry
R16 - No.15 seed Shelton
QF - No.6 seed Rune
SF - No.4 seed Sinner or No.5 seed Rublev
F - No.2 seed Alcaraz or No.3 seed Medvedev
And here is a look at Alcaraz’s path to the final:
R2 (after bye) - Norrie or Muller
R16 - No.16 seed Khachanov
QF - No.7 seed Tsitsipas or No. 10 seed Zverev
SF - No.3 seed Medvedev or No.8 seed Ruud
F - No.1 seed Djokovic
Tsitsipas, Zverev, Rune Seek Turin
As of Friday evening, Stefanos Tsitsipas, Sascha Zverev and Holger Rune are holding down the No.6, No.7 and No.8 spots in the Race to Turin standings. Rune (Basel) and Tsitsipas (Vienna) are currently still alive this week, so could make up ground, while Huber Hurkacz is also still alive in Basel.
With 1000 points left to claim in Paris, others, such as Ben Shelton, Alex de Minaur, Tommy Paul and Casper Ruud, will be in play, but they’ll have to go deep in Paris (scenarios to come).
First-rounders to watch
There are several fire matchups in round one in Paris – here’s our top five:
No.15 seed Ben Shelton vs Alejandro Davidovich Fokina
Gael Monfils vs Francisco Cerundolo
Sebastian Korda vs No.11 seed Hubert Hurkacz
No.14 seed Frances Tiafoe vs Alexander Bublik
Stan Wawrinka v Matteo Arnaldi