The ATP Paris Masters features a whole slew of returning champions, including six-time champion Novak Djokovic, and one-time champions Daniil Medvedev, Karen Khachanov, and Andy Murray. Djokovic is looking strong to repeat, having won his last three tournaments, although he may have to get through both Rafael Nadal and Carlos Alcaraz to do so. The draw is packed full of top players, and should be an excellent end to the season, as everyone looks to finish well and some players look to gain a bid into the ATP Finals. But who will come out on top? As always, we make our picks below, including Pablo Carreno Busta vs Albert Ramos-Vinolas.
ATP Paris Day 2 Predictions
Pablo Carreno Busta vs Albert Ramos-Vinolas
Head-to-head: 4-1 Carreno Busta
Pablo Carreno Busta is a streaky player who sits quietly at #14 in the world largely on the strength of an incredible title run in Montreal. He also played the final in Barcelona, and has several high-quality wins this year, en route to a 22-11 record this year on hard courts. Ramos-Vinolas has not had the same success on the surface, however, managing just six wins.
That should be the difference here, along with Carreno Busta having a 21% higher win percentage on the surface. Carreno Busta has not played his best tennis since Montreal, but Ramos-Vinolas has been at a much lower level during the same time period, even dropping back to the Challenger level in September. Carreno Busta should win this easily, although Ramos-Vinolas can be tricky, and despite the latter having taken their only hard court H2H.
Prediction: Carreno Busta in 2
Denis Shapovalov vs Francisco Cerundolo
Head-to-head: first meeting
Shapovalov is starting to look like his old self, with a finals appearance in Vienna that included wins over Borna Coric and Taylor Fritz. Of his 32 wins on the season, 27 have come on hard. The opposite is true for Cerundolo, who is a clay courter. The Argentine has just eight wins on the surface this year, which represent his entire career win total, and he has fared very poorly in the late-season hard court swing. Shapovalov is likely feeling energized after recovery in recent months from a mid-season slide, and he should be motivated to power past Cerundolo without much difficulty.
Prediction: Shapovalov in 2
Novak Djokovic vs Maxime Cressy
Head-to-head: first meeting
After a slow start to the season following his deportation from Australia, Djokovic has resumed his GOAT play to the tune of five finals in his past seven tournaments, with four titles to his name. The two non-finals were losses to Nadal and Alcaraz, and the one finals loss was to Andrey Rublev. So, in other words, he’s looking very tough to beat. And while Cressy can be hard to figure out for some players, Djokovic just seems to find a way to figure out opponent’s tendencies and weaknesses.
Cressy will beat players on serve and at the net, but Djokovic has made a living from being arguably the best returner in history, and arguably the best active player at the net. Cressy will likely find the unique style that works against so many players not landing with the same force against Djokovic.
Prediction: Djokovic in 2
Main Photo from Getty.
