Novak Djokovic improves to 47-5 (!) in 2023, beating Tomas Etcheverry 6-3, 6-2 to reach the last 16 in Paris. Next? #23 Tallon Griekspoor (leads the h2h 2-0). Gonna be tough to beat till the end of the year...
MATCH REPORT: Novak DJOKOVIC soars past Tomas Martin Etcheverry to secure "winning return" at 2023 Paris Masters
ATPWednesday, 01 November 2023 at 18:26
Novak Djokovic soared past Tomas Martin Etcheverry to secure a "winning return" to the ATP Tour in his opening match at the 2023 Paris Masters, progressing in straight sets, 6-3, 6-2.
The World No. 1 kicked off his campaign at the final ATP Masters 1000 tournament of the year with success against World No. 31 Etcheverry. Djokovic had been absent from the circuit since his victory at the US Open, which saw him equal the overall record of 24 Grand Slam titles.
Fans were eagerly awaiting his return, and the Serbian player did not disappoint. Nevertheless, Etcheverry showed resilience and the set stayed on serve until the Argentine player's fourth service game.
Djokovic pushes ahead as fellow top seeds fall
At this point, Djokovic was able to secure the break and put himself in a position to serve for the set. He then built up two set points and aced Etcheverry to claim the opener in 42 minutes.
In the second set, it looked as though the 36-year-old had fully re-found his dominant form as he broke his opponent in his first service game. Although Etcheverry fought back to take Djokovic's first service game to a deuce, he was unable to take advantage of the opportunity and the top seed successfully fended off the challenge.
He then proceeded to get the double break to lead 4-1 as Etcheverry struggled to keep up. Nevertheless, the 24-year-old was able to hold his next service game before Djokovic served for the match.
Etcheverry made a late surge at this point, taking the game to a deuce, but it was ultimately too little too late and Djokovic converted match point to book his place in the next round, where he will face Tallon Griekspoor.
This win comes after the second and third seeds, Carlos Alcaraz and Daniil Medvedev, both lost their first matches at the Paris Masters, putting the aim of finishing as the year-end No. 1 out of their reach. Alcaraz fell to Roman Safiullin while Medvedev was eliminated by Grigor Dimitrov.
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