DJOKOVIC BEATS VACHEROT TO BECOME OLDEST PARIS MASTERS WINNER

Novak Djokovic beat Valentin Vacherot 6-7(5), 7-5, 6-1 at the Rolex Paris Masters, recovering from a set and a break down to win. The victory made the 39-year-old Serbian the oldest player to win a singles match at the tournament, according to tournament statistics. Vacherot, who is from Monaco, won the opening-set tiebreak before Djokovic took the second set 7-5 and the decider 6-1. The result ended a five-match winning streak for Vacherot, which had included a title win in Basel the previous week. "I expected a match like this, to be honest, with very few opportunities to break, especially for me," Djokovic said afterwards.

The match was Djokovic's first appearance at the Paris Masters since 2023, when he won the title for a seventh time. It was also his first match at the tournament's new venue, La Defence Arena. Djokovic, the tournament's 10th seed, is a 24-time Grand Slam champion and a former world number one. The contest lasted two hours and 35 minutes.

The win keeps Djokovic's hopes of qualifying for the ATP Finals alive. He is next scheduled to play Rinky Hijikata at the tournament. Djokovic said he was still feeling the physical effects of the match against Vacherot and raised concerns about his freshness for that contest. "He has a tremendous serve. It's huge, both first and second, and for like a set and a half, I had a very difficult time to read his serve, and even if I guessed right where he was going to serve, it was coming with some speed, 215, 220, 225 kilometres an hour," Djokovic said of Vacherot's serve.