Issued on: 01/11/2022 – 19:34
Novak Djokovic started the defense of his Paris Masters title on Tuesday night with a straights sets win over the American Maxime Cressy.
Djokovic, 35, seeded sixth, claimed the second round tie 7-6, 6-4 at the Accor Arena in Bercy, south-eastern Paris.
“Its a pleasure to be here again where I’ve had so much success,” said the Serb who is seeking a record-extending seventh title at the venue.
“The public have a huge appreciation for tennis both here and at Roland Garros.”
After sweeping through the tiebreak at the end of the first set, Cressy and Djokovic were level pegging until the ninth game of the second set when Cressy faltered.
That glitch left Djokovic with the chance to serve for the encounter.
A fourth ace brought up two match points and he finished off proceedings after one hour and 42 minutes with a deft backhand volley at the net.
Home hopes
The partisans had reasons to be cheerful at the start of the second day at the season’s final Masters 1000 tournament – the most prestigious events on the ATP circuit after the Grand Slam competitions in Melbourne, Paris, London and New York.
Corentin Moutet, rated 64th in the world, came from a set down to beat the 26th ranked Borna Coric 3-6, 6-3, 6-4.
“He’s been playing well and I knew that I’d have to play really well to win,” 23-year-old Moutet told the broadcaster Eurosport.
“I told myself that I would have to wait to get the chances and be really concentrated in those moments to take them.”
Moutet will play the 12th seed Cameron Norrie in the second round.
Other hometown heroes fared less well though. France’s top player Arthur Rinderknech went down in straight sets to the Briton Jack Draper.
The 20-year-old won 6-3, 6-4 and will take on the 16th seed Frances Tiafoe.
Adrian Mannarino – who received an invitation to appear in the main draw – lost in straight sets to the 10th seed Hubert Hurkacz.
And three days after beating him in the final qualifying round, 18-year-old Arthur Fils again faced the veteran Italian Fabio Fognini who had received a place in the main draw following the withdrawal of Matteo Berrettini.
The 35-year-old came through in three sets and will take on Grigor Dimitrov in the second round.
