Cédric Chasseur, edited by Gauthier Delomez / Photo credits: JULIAN FINNEY / GETTY IMAGES EUROPE / Getty Images via AFP
Almost all the tennis stars are at Paris-Bercy this week. The Rolex Paris Masters, last Masters 1000 of the season, begins this Monday at the Accor Arena. Despite the absence of Rafael Nadal, the world’s biggest indoor tournament will look great with the presence of world numbers 1 and 2, Novak Djokovic and Carlos Alcaraz.
A Djokovic-Alcaraz final?
If the Serbian has already won the tournament six times, he did not come to make up the numbers. He wants to turn the page on last year’s final, lost to the young Danish phenomenon Holger Rune. “I love competition. I always set new goals for myself. Win a new Grand Slam tournament, finish world number 1… And, believe me, I’m here to win like all the tournaments I play”, warns Novak Djokovic, seen in the stands during the Rugby World Cup final at the Stade de France, won by South Africa.
All tennis fans are dreaming of a new final between “Djoko” and the Spaniard Carlos Alcaraz, like at Wimbledon, like in Cincinnati. Unless a Frenchman comes to shake up the hierarchy. There will be eight in the final table. Among them, Adrian Mannarino, the French number 1, or Gaël Monfils, back in the Top 100 and recent winner of his 12th career title in Stockholm.
“I’m really impatient,” confides Arthur Fils, senior French tennis player
Spectators will also have an eye on the performances of Arthur Fils, 19, the next generation of French tennis, who is impatient to meet the Parisian public again. “I experienced emotions last year which were superb. I’m really impatient. That doesn’t mean that I’m going to win, it just means that I’m going to enjoy it in a crazy atmosphere”, salivates the young Habs .
The native of Bondoufle, near Paris, will try to reach at least the quarter-finals, a stage that he has never experienced in the Masters 1000 category. A hypothetical quarter that he could also play against Novak Djokovic, present in his half of the table. Perhaps one of the last great tennis emotions in this room, since according to The Teamthe tournament should be played at La Défense Arena in Nanterre from 2025.