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Preview of Paris Masters 2017

15th October, 2017
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Spain's Rafael Nadal celebrates winning his tenth French Open title against Switzerland's Stan Wawrinka in three sets, 6-2, 6-3, 6-1, during their men's final match of the French Open tennis tournament at the Roland Garros stadium, in Paris, France, Sunday, June 11, 2017. (AP Photo/Christophe Ena)
Roar Guru
15th October, 2017
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With Roger Federer’s win over Rafael Nadal at Shanghai, next on the ATP tour is Basel and immediately after that the Paris Rolex Masters and the year ending Nitto ATP Finals.

Will we see these two champions thrice more in finals?

Considering their form it certainly is possible.

Since the Paris Masters is an ATP 1000 event, I will preview its 2017 edition. 

The Paris Masters is the ninth and last of the ATP 1000 events of the year. It is played on indoor hardcourt and is the only ATP 1000 Masters tournament to be played indoors.

The 2017 edition is scheduled for October 30 to November 5 and is the 46th iteration of the prestigious competition. 

Apart from being prestigious in itself, the tournament is a big favourite among players as it gives them a last minute chance to enter for the year ending Nitto ATP Finals.

It is an exciting tournament and has one of the fastest surfaces on tour.

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Brief history
The tournament was preceded by the French Covered Court Championships from 1895 to 1967. The most successful player was Jean Borotra who won as many as 11 times in the period between the world wars.

The current tournament debuted in 1968 with the inaugural winner being Czech player Milan Holecek who prevailed over Robert “Bob” Carmichael. For Holecek, it was his only tournament win and he is largely an unknown character on the circuit.

Bob Carmichael, of course, is one of the better-known tennis players.

A former carpenter and boxer he was a top ten singles player but more well known as a doubles player of repute. He featured in as many as 34 doubles finals on the circuit with 12 wins.

Bob was a well-known coach as well, having provided guidance to Patrick Rafter, Darren Cahill, Lleyton Hewitt and Leander Paes.

Since then the tournament has been held regularly every year barring four years namely 1983-85 and 1971. Some great players who have won here are Arthur Ashe, Ilie Nastase, Boris Becker, Stefan Edberg, Andre Agassi and Pete Sampras.

The player with maximum finals here is Becker. He won thrice and lost a final each to fellow greats Sampras and Edberg.

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Current history
Defending champion Andy Murray, who had won last year by defeating John Isner, will not be there to defend his title.

The most successful player here in recent times is Novak Djokovic who has four wins in 2009, 2013-2015 against Monfils, Ferrer, Raonic and Murray respectively. Novak has a 4-0 record here in finals.

Novak Djokovic French Open 2016 Tennis

(AP Photo/Michel Euler)

Incredibly in the almost 50 years history of the tournament, Djokovic is the only player who has defended his title, and he did so twice. He too is not there this year. 

What about Federer and Rafa?
Federer has won here only once, which was in 2011 with a 6-1, 7-6 win over Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in the finals. Tsonga is the last French player to claim victory here with his win over David Nalbandian in 2008.

Interestingly for four straight years from 2008-2011, there was at least one Frenchman in the finals here. It was Tsonga in 2008 and 2011 and Gael Monfils in 2009 and 2010.

Tsonga’s win in 2008 was especially noteworthy since Nalbandian was the defending champion, with a stunning 6-4, 6-0 win over Rafa.

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Nalbandian’s win was even more praiseworthy considering that in 2007 Rafa had not only won the French Open but almost won Wimbledon as well, only losing to Federer in five sets. 2007 is Rafa’s only final entry at Paris.

The French Open and the Paris Masters together constitute the Paris double and the four who have won both are Nastase, Agassi, Federer and Djokovic. However, Federer and Novak have not done it the same year while Nastase and Agassi did it in 1973 and 1999 respectively.

Can Rafa repeat their feat?

Before Paris is the 2017 Swiss Indoors Basel, where former ball boy Federer has seven titles. Will he win his eighth there? We will soon know.

As things stand now, the two champions are joint favourites for the Paris Masters.

Rafa playing the Shanghai finals with a strapped knee would be a worrying factor for his team and his fans but hopefully it is just a niggle and he would be back at peak fitness.

If so, with Federer also turning back the clock, we could see the two champions battle it out again a couple of times more this year.

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Looking forward for a great Paris Masters 2017. 

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