The BNP Paribas Masters Paris draw is out, and Rafael Nadal has a bye in the first round. The World No. 1 is seeded first at the tournament. He will play the winner of the match between Mischa Zverev and Hyeon Chung in the second round.
Our champ is joined by fourth seed Alexander Zverev in the top half of the draw, with second seed Roger Federer projected to face off against third seed Marin Cilic in the other semifinal.
Rafa’s potential route to the final:
- 1st round: Bye
- 2nd round: Mischa Zverev or Hyeon Chung
- 3rd round: Albert Ramos-Vinolas
- Quarter-final: Pablo Carreno Busta
- Semi-final: Alexander Zverev or Grigor Dimitrov
- Final: Roger Federer
Projected quarterfinals:
- Rafael Nadal vs Pablo Carreno Busta
- Alexander Zverev vs Grigor Dimitrov
- David Goffin vs Marin Cilic
- Dominic Thiem vs Roger Federer
UPDATE: Roger Federer has withdrawn from the Paris Masters to focus on the ATP World Tour finals in London. Rafa needs just one more win – either in Paris or at the season-ending ATP World Tour finals in London – to seal the No 1 spot.
GOOD LUCK & VAMOS RAFA!
I was so depressed I didn’t visit the website since Rafa lost first set to Roger in Shanghai..hoping Rafa wud bt Roger at wtf wid Toni and moya around.god bless Rafa to win Paris Masters and bt Roger to win wtf
VAMOS & OLA & BONJOUR SWEETHEART!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! : ) : ) 🙂 🙂 🙂
Have a beautiful day and a beautiful tour!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! : ) : ) 😉 🙂 🙂 it is going to be a great match for you!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! : ) : ) 🙂 🙂 : ) : ) : ) VAMOS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! : ) Very happy for you dear Rafa!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! : ) : ) : ) ENJOY EVERYTHING & KEEP SMILING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! : ) !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! : ) 🙂 : ) 🙂 🙂 Lots of love & happiness & have fun!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! : ) XOXOXOXO
Here is my take. Roger withdrawal give nadal a great chance of winning paris. He never won this tournament before. But honestly i dont believe that roger has a back injury. He just wants to give the nr 1 spot to nadal as a favor. He knows propably deep in his heart that roger is the real nr 1 because he has beaten nadal four times this year preventing rafa from writing history.
I dont believe that roger will claim the nr 1 spot next year. The reason for it is that this year for roger was so expectional great that it will be impossible for him to repeat it next year. Also because his big rival djokovic who unlike rafa knows how to beat roger will come back stronger and will be a threat to both rafa and roger. And then you have off course murray.
Roger is saving his energy for the wtf where he probably will beat rafa again in the final. So i really hope he will face a suprise defeat before the final
When it comes to rafa. Winning Paris will reduce the nr of master series title he didnt win to only 2
namely Miami and Sjanghai.
But Rafa can only win the wtf if he finds out a way to beat roger
Nadal Federer h2h 23-15. Rafa has beaten Federer in the past, when hardly anyone else could. I feel certain that he will do it again. Rafa will be the real number one. He has played consistently throughout the year, not cherry picking the events that he could win, unlike Federer. Using your logic, was Nadal was the real number one when he was consistently beating Federer, whilst Federer according to the ranking was number one?
I don’t think Federer does favours for anyone. He knew it would be a fight for the year end number 1 position and he badly wants to win the World Tour Finals. He knows that he can no longer play so many tournaments close together. If he had fought to win in Paris he would have damaged his chances for the WTF’s.
Vamos Rafa.
Roger the real no.1? What nonsense! Do you know that in 2006, Rafa beat Fed four times, and ended the year 4-2 against Fed and Fed was YE no.1? Why? Because Fed had the most ranking points in that year! Do you think deep down Fed was thinking that Rafa was the real no.1 back then???
Whoever won the most points will be the real no.1. Unlike the WTA, the ATP no.1 is usually one that has won at least one slam during the season – Murray in 2016 won one slam but he’s the YE no.1 because he won the most points during the season, not Djoko who won two slams but had fewer points.
Moreover, Rafa had done better than Fed at the slams, played all four, won two, reached final of another and R4 of another. Fed played three, won two and reached only QF of the third.
In terms of Masters won, Rafa won two Masters, reached two more finals and may have the chance to win another; Fed won three and reached final of another. Rafa was also doing better at the 500 events – won two and reached another final; vs Fed’s two titles plus one R2 (Dubai).
Even if Fed really wins the WTF, I don’t think he is the best player this season, because he avoids playing in some part of the season where he has no chances of winning titles, to conserve his energy, and concentrated on playing on those surfaces that he had better chances of winning titles.
He may be smart in his scheduling, but that’s because he has reached the stage in his long career where he need not be penalized for not playing a full season, so he can pick and choose where he wants to play and where he doesn’t.
If Im not wrong, Rafa can also do so come next season, when he’ll be 32, played > 600 matches and being > 12 years in the tour.
I agree. Enough with the nonsense.
Rafa earned his World No. 1 title. No on GAVE him anything. Should he end 2017 as No. 1, I will be delighted for him.
Rafa played all seasons which is a plus, unlike Fed who chose not to play the clay season. Rafa should get the Best Player of the Year Award. STUPENDOUS.
Furthermore, I couldn’t be happier for Rafa for what he has accomplished this year. And he has given so much.
RAFA ROCKS #16, #10, #10, #10
Of course, there have been several matches this year we would have hoped Rafa to win, Aus Open being the main one. 😕 R. Garros cheered us up, stupendo ! 😃👑 US Open super. We are pleased for Roger that he has had a good surge this year but like you say it may well not happen next year. I have my ticket for Paris Bercy tomorrow, can t wait to see Rafa, ☺saw him there for the first time in 2015 and luckily he won his match. You see the players close up there, for us women it is just as good as seeing the match. 😉 Fiona in Paris
mjus,
I do not even for one moment think that RF would give up any chances to win any points to give Rafa year end no.1 status, especially since that would be recond breaking for oldest man in tennis. Now Rafa holds that record so please do not take it away from Rafa and give it to RF who certainly does ot have a grain of generosity in his soul, likewise all other tennis players.
WAMOS WAMOS WAMOS RAFA
I checked you are get No.1of the year! Congratulations Rafa.
Looks like Roger is one step ahead of Rafa with his scheduling again! Rafa should have skipped Beijing too!
Roger’s withdrawal from Paris takes a lot of pressure from Rafa but it also allows all the ” haters” to say Rafa ended the year as no 1 only due to Roger’s withdrawal.
In some ways I think Rafa would have liked the challenge of playing Roger in Paris but he will still have the pleasure of that at the WTF.
The main thing is that he plays well and stays healthy.
I think Roger believes he will reclaim the no 1 in 2018, possibly as early as in Australia. Will Rafa prove him wrong ?
Yes Rafa will end year as Number one but I’m not sure if both he and Roger will make it to the finals in Australia in 2018.
Rafa will be possible fit for next 5 years. Roger may retire at the end of 2018. I am big fan & followers of Rafa (the great fighter of sports history) . If you look at the every moment of rafas attitude , thinking of game. he is always focused to be no-1. Definitely rafa will beat roger next onwards. he is thing of it.
beverly,
Here is my take. Roger withdrawal give nadal a great chance of winning paris. He never won this tournament before. But honestly i dont believe that roger has a back injury. He just wants to give the nr 1 spot to nadal as a favor. He knows propably deep in his heart that roger is the real nr 1 because he has beaten nadal four times this year preventing rafa from writing history.
I dont believe that roger will claim the nr 1 spot next year. The reason for it is that this year for roger was so expectional great that it will be impossible for him to repeat it next year. Also because his big rival djokovic who unlike rafa knows how to beat roger will come back stronger and will be a threat to both rafa and roger. And then you have off course murray.
Roger is saving his energy for the wtf where he probably will beat rafa again in the final. So i really hope he will face a suprise defeat before the final
When it comes to rafa. Winning Paris will reduce the nr of master series title he didnt win to only 2
namely Miami and Sjanghai.
But Rafa can only win the wtf if he finds out a way to beat roger
I rarely comment about Roger because I am always focused on Rafa. However, I have been following articles about Roger and feel it necessary to clarify his take on things.
According to Roger, ending this season as World No. 1 was never a priority. He has been consistent about that as Rafa was too far ahead of him in points. Rafa has earned the No. 1 spot without any “favors” from Roger. Where did you get that “information?”
I have gleaned from the many articles I read that Roger is not injured. He is choosing to rest so as to avoid injury to his back. “I want to keep playing at the highest level in the years to come” has been his mantra since his return. He wants to win the ATP Finals which he hasn’t won since 2011.
Fed is already looking forward to 2018 and being in the best possible shape.
Rafa will more than likely end 2017 as World No. 1, and Best Player. JUST WONDERFUL.
I love Rafa, but being number one means he has won the most tournaments and attained the most points. It doesn’t mean he’s the best player in the world.I appreciate he was injured when he lost to RF in the Shanghai final. But he has now lost 4 times to RF in succession. If he cannot beat RF then Rf must be the best player.in the world. I so want Rafa to win a tournament, with RF included, preferably beating him. But now RF has withdrawn from the Paris Masters, it will beg the question.
.
please show times of matches ,world wide. Merci.
Hi Jean.
Just google “Paris Rolex Masters” then the schedule and order of play on your local time, plus match results and online scores will automatically appear on the searching page – you don’t even have to click on any link. 🙂
Roger has withdrawn from Paris. Virtually given the YE#1 to Rafa. Be careful of him Rafa, it’s easy to give away things you didn’t need and enjoy the recipient’s gratitute. Go out there and win in Paris Rafa, make RF’s no-show irrelevant and prove to the world that you’re the best. Vamos!!
That photo saids it all! A winning smile for a winning season 2017. All the best in Paris!
So happy to hear Rafa is well-rested and healthy again.
Can’t wait to watch Rafa compete. Vamos, Rafa!