ATP Finals without Djokovic. "Nole" isn't sad: I can't wait

The seven-time winner of the Paris Masters tournament made history the day before as the oldest player to win a match in this event. In the 1st round he defeated the representative of Monaco, Valentin Vacherot, 6:7 (5-7), 7:5, 6:1.

The course of the match

Against Hijikata, who qualified for the main tournament, "Nole" played excellently in the first set, impressing with a precise first serve and committing only eight unforced errors. However, in the next games it was worse. In the third set, at 3-3, Djokovic gave up the game after a double service fault. Then he made two more double faults at 3:5, which sealed the defeat against the Australian, who was 14 years younger than him.

"Now it's time to rest"

Djokovic, who was ranked 11th in the "ATP Live Race to Turin" ranking before the match, needed to get through to the semi-finals in Paris to have any chance of participating in the season-ending tournament in Italy. He failed to advance to the ATP Finals for the first time since 2017. He also did not play in the last two editions, but by his own choice.

For the past two seasons, Djokovic has refrained from playing two tournaments in a row to protect his health and give himself the best chance of winning a record 25th Grand Slam title.

Now it's time to rest, I can't wait - he said after the match against Hijikata.

Surprises in Paris

Wednesday was full of surprises. German Alexander Zverev was defeated in his first match as world number 1, losing to Italian Lorenzo Musetti 6:7 (5-7), 2:6.

Unexpectedly, the Russian Daniil Medvedev, seeded number 4, was also eliminated, losing to the Peruvian Ignacio Buse 4:6, 4:6, the American Frances Tiafoe (No. 7), who lost to the French Quentin Halys 3:6, 6:1, 6:7 (9-11), and the Australian Alex de Minaur, eliminated by the Argentinian Tomas Martin Etcheverry 6:7 (2-7), 3:6.