PARIS
In the second round of the Paris Masters on Tuesday, defending champion Novak Djokovic defeated American Maxime Cressy 7-6 (1), 6-4 to get his quest for a record-extending 39th Masters title underway.
Cressy
Cressy survived three break points in the eighth game of their first encounter, but she then committed two double faults in the tiebreaker, which Djokovic won with an ace.
At 4-4 in the second set, Cressy also double-failed, giving Djokovic two break opportunities, which he took advantage of by breaking with a forehand return winner. With a backhand volley, the Serb converted his first match point.
“In these kinds of circumstances, where balls are flying across the court and it’s quicker than it was last year, it’s difficult to play him for sure,” Djokovic said. “So difficult to break.
When compared to Cressy’s 14 unforced errors, Djokovic faced zero break points and committed just three.
Novak Djokovic | Following victories in Israel and Kazakhstan, Djokovic extended his winning run since suffering a setback at the Laver Cup in September to ten games. Karen Khachanov, who defeated Marc-Andrea Huesler 6-3, 4-6, 6-4, will be the opponent after him.
Casper Ruud advanced to the third round as well, defeating Richard Gasquet in straight sets, 6-1, 7-6 (7), while Holger Rune defeated Stan Wawrinka in three sets, 4-6, 7-5, 7-6 (3), saving three match points in the process.
as the third seed In the first set, Ruud jumped out to a quick 5-0 lead before breaking back at 5-3 in the second to force a tiebreaker. At 7-6, Gasquet lost a set point by forehand volleying into the net.
After losing in the opening round of the Basel and Tokyo tournaments, Ruud ended a bad run of play. Andrey Rublev and Hubert Hurkacz continued to be in the running for the final two ATP Finals spots.
Hurkacz defeated wild-card entry Adrian Mannarino 7-6 (5), 6-4 in the first round, while Rublev easily defeated John Isner 6-2, 6-3 in the second round.
