Santiago Gonzalez & Partner Edouard Roger-Vasselin Claim Paris Masters Men’s Doubles Title

Santiago Gonzalez is celebrating another title…

The 40-year-old Mexican professional player and his men’s doubles partner Edouard Roger-Vasselin have extended their late-season winning streak to eight to clinch the title at the Paris Masters.

Santiago Gonzalez & Edouard Roger-VasselinThe seventh-seeded duo defeated Rohan Bopanna and Matthew Ebden 6-2, 5-7, 10-7 to lift the trophy at the ATP Masters 1000 event in the French capital.

Gonzalez and Roger-Vasselin converted both break points they earned to claim the victory, holding firm after dropping their first set of the week in the championship match in Paris.

“The set we lost, it’s totally my fault. I did a pretty bad game in the second set, but Santi helped a lot at the changeover,” said home favorite Roger-Vasselin. “[He said] ‘It’s OK, we’re just going to fight every point and enjoy the crowd’. For me it’s super special to win here in Paris, so I’m really thankful to Santi. He played amazing all week, and I’m really happy to win this trophy here.”

Gonzalez and Roger-Vasselin, who also lifted the trophy in Basel a week ago, defeated the second, third and fourth-seeded pairs en route to their second Masters 1000 crown of the year.

The duo has qualified for the Nitto ATP Finals in Turin, where the pair will enter the prestigious season finale on a high.

“The last two weeks were amazing, ending the year like this and now going to Turin with confidence,” said Gonzalez. “We are happy to win our second Masters title of this year, so we are very pleased about it and hopefully we can keep it going.”

Gonzalez and Roger-Vasselin are now 51-21 in their first full season together on the ATP Tour.

They became champions in Marseille, Miami and Los Cabos prior to their Basel and Paris triumphs, and will enter Turin in fourth in the ATP Live Doubles Teams Rankings.

Carlos Alcaraz Becomes Youngest Year-End No. 1 in ATP History

Carlos Alcaraz has another a place in tennis history once again…

The 19-year-old Spanish professional tennis player is the youngest year-end No. 1 in the history of the ATP computerized rankings.

Carlos AlcarazHe also joins fellow Spaniard Rafael Nadal as the first players from the same country to claim the top two spots at the close of a season since Americans Pete Sampras and Michael Chang in 1996.

The final men’s tennis rankings for 2022 were published Monday, and Alcaraz’s rise from No. 32 at the end of 2021 is the largest single-season jump to No. 1.

Alcaraz, who turned 19 in May, has remained atop the rankings since he won his first Grand Slam title at the US Open in September by beating Casper Ruud in the final.

That made Alcaraz the first male teen at No. 1 since the ATP computerized rankings began in 1973.

He’s the first man in 20 years other than Nadal, Roger FedererNovak Djokovic or Andy Murray — since Andy Roddick in 2003 — to finish at No. 1.

Alcaraz ended his season early after tearing an abdominal muscle while competing at the Paris Masters a month ago.

The 36-year-old Nadal, meanwhile, is the oldest man to finish a year ranked first or second. He also extended his own record by placing in the top 10 at the end of a year for the 18th consecutive season. The recently retired Federer is the only other man with that many top-10 finishes over the course of a career.

Nadal won the Australian Open and French Open to raise his men’s-record Grand Slam total to 22 trophies, one ahead of Djokovic and two ahead of Federer.

Ruud finishes at No. 3, followed by No. 4 Stefanos Tsitsipas, No. 5 Djokovic, No. 6 Felix Auger-Aliassime, No. 7 Daniil Medvedev, No. 8 Andrey Rublev, No. 9 Taylor Fritz and No. 10 Hubert Hurkacz.

Djokovic couldn’t play at the Australian Open or US Open because he is not vaccinated against COVID-19 and didn’t earn any rankings boost for his title at Wimbledon because the WTA and ATP stripped that tournament of any points over the All England Club‘s ban on players from Russia and Belarus.

Alex de Minaur Stuns Daniil Medvedev in Second Round of Paris Masters

Alex de Minaur has pulled off a Masters-ful upset…

The 23-year-old Uruguayan/Spanish Australian tennis player stunned fourth-seeded Daniil Medvedev 6-4, 2-6, 7-5 in the second round of the Paris Masters.

Alex de MinaurIt was de Minaur’s first time beating Medvedev in five meetings.

After rallying from a 2-0 deficit in the final set, de Minaur failed to convert his first two match points at 5-4. He hit a return out on the first match point and made an unforced error on the second.

But he player got two more chances at 6-5. Medvedev saved the third match point with a service winner before double-faulting on the fourth and angrily throwing his racket to the ground.

“I’m glad I played a very tactical match,” de Minaur told Tennis Channel. “I just tried to wait for my right ball and just back myself and back my volley. It’s something that I tried to implement a lot more. I don’t do it as often as I would like, but I’ve got some decent volleys.”

Medvedev, who won the Paris Masters in 2020 and was runner-up last year, dropped serve in the first set by overhitting a smash in the final game. But the Russian player capitalized on unforced errors by de Minaur to break twice in the second set.

de Minaur will next face Frances Tiafoe, who beat Jack Draper 6-3, 7-5.

Rafael Nadal Becomes Only Fourth Man to Reach 1,000 Career Match Wins

Rafael Nadal has joined an elite group of tennis stars…

The 34-year-old Spanish tennis star has become only the fourth man to reach 1,000 match victories.

Rafael Nadal

Nadal reached the milestone at the Paris Masters after defeating his compatriot Feliciano Lopez 4-6, 7-6 (5), 6-4.

Nadal joins towering company in Jimmy Connors (1,274), Roger Federer (1,242) and Ivan Lendl (1,068) as the only men in the 1,000-wins club since the Open era began in 1968.

“I know it is a very special number, one thousand,” Nadal said. “Even if it’s not the same to celebrate something like this without a crowd.”

Nadal smiled as he posed at the net with the number 1,000 displayed on the court in a brief ceremony, and then he walked off center court like after any other match.

It was the second milestone he reached in Paris this year, having won the French Open last month to tie Federer with 20 majors.

Nadal’s first win came in May 2002 at the age of 15, when he beat Paraguayan Ramon Delgado in the first round at Mallorca.

A year later, the 16-year-old Nadal stunned the tennis world by beating French Open champion Albert Costa under floodlights in the second round at the Monte Carlo Masters.

By the age of 24, he had already reached 500 wins. His career tally also includes 35 Masters titles and 86 tournament victories overall.

Nadal, who has never won this tournament, next plays Australia’s Jordan Thompson, who upset 15th-seeded Croat Borna Coric 2-6, 6-4, 6-2.

Cristian Garin Reaches First Masters 1000 Quarterfinals at the Paris Masters

It’s a special win for Cristian Garin

The 23-year-old Chilean tennis player has reached his first quarterfinals at a Masters 1000 event after defeating France’s Jeremy Chardy at the Paris Masters.

Cristian Garin

Garin won 6-7 (4), 6-4, 7-6 (6) after a match that lasted two hours and 27 minutes and facing three match points against him.

With the victory, Garin became the first Chilean tennis player to reach the quarterfinals of a Masters 1000 since Fernando González, in Rome 2009.

He’ll next face Grigor Dimitrov.

Cristian Garin Defeats John Isner to Reach Paris Masters Third Round

Cristian Garinis celebrating a big win…

The 23-year-old Chilean , ranked No. 42 in the ATP world rankings, defeated World No. 17 John Isner in the second round of the Paris Masters.

Cristian Garin

Garin beat the American giant 7-6 (5) and 7-6 (4), qualifying for the knockout stages of the last Masters of the season.

In a first set marked by a good service performance by both players, Garin was solid in the tie break.

At the start of the second set, Garin broke in the first game. But Isner responded in the sixth game to tie up the set.

From then on, neither player showed flaws with their serve, leading to a tie breaker. Even though Isner looked in control at the beginning, Garin managed to recover and turn the tables to win 7-4.

Garin will next face France’s Jeremy Chardy (65th), who defeated the Daniil Medvedev.

Juan Martin del Potro Defeats Robin Haase at Paris Masters in Quest to Earns Spot at the ATP Finals

Juan Martin del Potro is one step closer to earning a spot in the big show…

The 29-year-old Argentinean tennis star  moved closer to securing the last spot for the season-ending ATP Finals by beating Robin Haase 7-5, 6-4 in the third round at the Paris Masters.

Juan Martin del Potro

del Potro, who lost to Roger Federer on Sunday in the Swiss Indoors final, is in 10th place in the race to qualify for the tournament.

Only the top eight players will compete in London and there is one place left, to be taken in Paris.

“I would love to reach London once again. It could be a fantastic moment for me,” said del Potro, who was way back in 47th place in the race before the U.S. Open.

“I’m excited to keep improving for this kind of surprise. I love to surprise myself and that’s what I’m doing now.”

del Potro has a tough challenge next, against big-serving John Isner.

The ninth-seeded Isner, last year’s runner-up to Andy Murray, hit 25 aces as he beat sixth-seeded Grigor Dimitrov of Bulgaria 7-6 (10), 5-7, 7-6 (3).

Ferrer Outlasts John Isner to Reach Paris Masters Semifinals

David Ferrer is still in the running for this year’s Paris Masters title.

The 33-year-old Spanish tennis player, the 2012 champion, followed up by beating 13th-seeded American John Isner 6-3, 6-7 (6), 6-2 in the quarterfinals.

David Ferrer

Ferrer, who has won five titles this year, seemed to be cruising when he broke Isner in the eighth game of the second set. That gave him a chance to serve out the match, but from 40-15 his composure deserted him.

“I was waiting for him to make mistakes,” Ferrer said.

Isner forced a tiebreaker, clinching it with a huge forehand that clipped Ferrer’s outstretched racket.

Ferrer was given a warning from the chair umpire at the start of the third set when he yelled out in frustration after missing four consecutive break points.

But he easily took Isner’s next service game, although the American was clearly struggling. At 0-40, he hunched over and then took a medical timeout at the changeover.

“My stomach was just cramping up, so was I some pain,” Isner said.

Ferrer held easily for 3-1 and then broke again when Isner hit a big forehand wide.

Ferrer next faces second-seed Andy Murray in the semifinals.

Ferrer Replacing the Injured Milos Roanic at the ATP Finals

He may have no chance of advancing, but David Ferrer will still get some time on the courts at the ATP Finals.

The 32-year-old Spanish tennis player has replaced Milos Roanic at the year-end tournament. The switch comes after the Canadian player withdrew with a quad injury before his final round-robin match against Japan’s Kei Nishikori on Thursday.

David Ferrer

The seventh-seeded Raonic, who lost his first two matches in Group B in straight sets, will be replaced by Ferrer, the first alternate at the ATP Finals.

“As badly as I wanted to play, you’ve got to be at the top of your game here and I couldn’t be close to that today,” said the big-serving Canadian. “Wouldn’t have been fair to the fans if I had played a mediocre match or had to stop.”

Six-time champion Roger Federer will take on Andy Murray in the group’s other match. If the 17-time Grand Slam champion beats Murray and Nishikori defeats Ferrer, then the Scot will be eliminated from the indoor event.

Ferrer, who trained in London this week, has no chance of making it to the semifinals. At the Paris Masters last month, he saw his hopes of qualifying for the Finals vanish after losing a tough battle to Nishikori in the quarterfinals. The Spaniard came within two points of victory but failed to hold on to his lead.

Raonic, one of the three newcomers in London with Marin Cilic and Nishikori, said he picked up his injury during his defeat to Murray.

“I have a slight tear in my quad and a large area of swelling,” he said. “I’ve had a great time here. It motivates me a lot to come here next year and do better than I did.”

Ferrer Defeats Rafael Nadal to Reach Paris Masters Final

He may be Spain’s No. 2 player, but David Ferrer played like the country’s No. 1 to defeat his compatriot…

The 31-year-old Spanish tenista upset world No. 1 Rafael Nadal on Saturday to reach the Paris Masters.

David Ferrer

Defending champion Ferrer, who won his only Masters title here last year, dominated his fellow Spaniard 6-3, 7-5 to set up the championship decider on Sunday against Novak Djokovic, who came back to win 4-6, 6-3, 6-2 against the 2011 Paris champion Roger Federer.

Nadal was bidding to become the first player since Andre Agassi in 1999 to win both the French Open and Paris Masters in the same season but again came up short at a tournament where he last played in 2009.

Nadal hit an uncharacteristic 25 unforced errors and converted just one break point in seven attempts as Ferrer defeated his rival for only the fifth time in 21 meetings.

The world number four received plenty of support from the Paris crowd and carved out the decisive break to go 6-5 in the second set before serving out for the match.

“It was definitely the best match I’ve played all week and I was fighting for every ball but I’m really pleased because I played my best tennis,” said Ferrer.

”Now, I’m going to try and recover and play a strong match tomorrow (Sunday) but I love it here and I have great memories,” added the man who defeated Poland’s Jerzy Janowicz in last year’s final.