Tennis》Revenge to secure year-end hopes! Djokovic wins Paris Masters from behind

Djokovic. (AFP)

[Reporter Liang Weiming/Comprehensive Report] After losing a set first and being broken, Novak Djokovic finally defeated Monaco's "slugger" Valentin Vacherot 6:7 (5:7), 7:5, 6:1. The Serbian veteran made a thrilling loss at the Paris Men's Tennis Masters, and also maintained his hope of entering the year-end finals in Turin.

"To be honest, I expected that there would be almost no chance of breaking serve in such a game." This ATP thousand-point indoor hard court competition is being held at the La Défense Arena in Paris, the capital of France. Vaschereau, who just won the championship in Basel, hit 22 aces, but Djokovic showed patience and tenacity. Not only did he come back from 0:2 in the second set, but he also firmly controlled the decisive set at the baseline. Controlling the rhythm, he finally spent 2 hours and 36 minutes to avenge his loss in the quarter-finals of last year's Shanghai Masters. The experienced former world champion said: "His serve is very good. No matter whether it is the first or second serve, it is difficult for me to judge the route of the serve. Even if I guess the ball speed is too fast, it is very difficult to compete with such an opponent. Fortunately, I held on in the third set and tried to perform at my best at the critical moment."

As the last member of the "Big Three" currently active, the 39-year-old Djokovic endured physical problems such as discomfort in his right shoulder and cut off the aggressive Vassero's recent five-game winning streak. However, the seven-time Paris Masters champion must at least return to the top four before he can compete in the top eight of the year-end tournament. As for his second-round opponent, the Japanese-Australian dark horse Riki Hijikata entered the tournament in the playoffs.