{"id":251938,"date":"2025-10-26T03:57:11","date_gmt":"2025-10-26T03:57:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/251938\/"},"modified":"2025-10-26T03:57:11","modified_gmt":"2025-10-26T03:57:11","slug":"paris-masters-tournament-director-responds-when-asked-if-he-thinks-novak-djokovic-will-ever-return-to-the-event","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/251938\/","title":{"rendered":"Paris Masters tournament director responds when asked if he thinks Novak Djokovic will ever return to the event"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"\/ Follow us on Google Discover <\/a> <\/p>\n

Novak Djokovic won\u2019t be competing at the Paris Masters next week.<\/p>\n

After losing to Valentin Vacherot in the Shanghai semifinals, Djokovic withdrew from the Paris Masters<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The record seven-time champion also skipped the event in 2024, choosing not to defend the title he won a year earlier.<\/p>\n

\"GrigorPhoto by Jean Catuffe\/Getty Images<\/p>\n

Djokovic will be 39 years old when the next edition of the Paris Masters<\/a> comes around, leaving many to question if he will ever return to the event.<\/p>\n

Answering that question, Paris Masters tournament director Cedric Pioline suggested whether he thinks Djokovic<\/a> will be back in 2026.<\/p>\n

Paris Masters tournament director \u2018hopes\u2019 Novak Djokovic will return in 2026<\/p>\n

During a pre-tournament press conference, Pioline was asked if he is \u2018afraid\u2019 that Djokovic won\u2019t return to the Paris Masters.<\/p>\n

\u201cI hope we\u2019ll see Djokovic again,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s a huge champion. He holds records in terms of titles in the Masters 1000s.\u201d<\/p>\n

RankNameMasters 1000 titlesYears won1Novak Djokovic402007-20232Rafael Nadal362005-20213Roger Federer282002-20194Andre Agassi171990-20045Andy Murray142008-2016Most successful players at the Masters 1000 tournaments<\/p>\n

Pioline was hopeful, but not convinced that he\u2019d see a 39-year-old Djokovic compete in Paris again.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs time flies, he\u2019s 38 years old. He\u2019s old for this profession. He says it himself. His body is 15 years older basically,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cTo manage to be as competitive as he is\u2026 I think he only played 10 tournaments [in 2025].<\/p>\n

\"NovakPhoto by Jean Catuffe\/Getty Images<\/p>\n

\u201cHe was actually a runner-up in most of the tournaments.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe could see that it was difficult. Especially this year in Shanghai, it was very humid.\u201d<\/p>\n

Tournament numberTournamentSurfacePerformance1Brisbane InternationalHardLost in QF to Reilly Opelka2Australian OpenHardLost in SF to Alexander Zverev3Qatar OpenHardLost in 1R to Matteo Berrettini4Indian WellsHardLost in 2R to Botic van de Zandschulp5Miami OpenHardLost in F to Jakub Mensik6Monte-Carlo MastersClayLost in 2R to Alejandro Tabilo7Madrid OpenClayLost in 2R to Matteo Arnaldi8Geneva OpenClayChampion \u2013 Beat Hubert Hurkacz in F9French OpenClayLost in SF to Jannik Sinner10WimbledonGrassLost in SF to Jannik Sinner11US OpenHardLost in SF to Carlos Alcaraz12Shanghai MastersHardLost in SF to Valentin VacherotNovak Djokovic\u2019s 2025 ATP season<\/p>\n

Pioline believes Djokovic is currently playing at a lower level than his biggest rivals, Carlos Alcaraz<\/a> and Jannik Sinner.<\/p>\n

\u201cI hope we\u2019ll have the opportunity to see him again. I hope that he will see the tournament in the new venue. But for any tennis player, there\u2019s a beginning and an end,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cHis end, he\u2019s drawing closer to the end of his career. I don\u2019t know if he\u2019s planned it or not. It\u2019s becoming more difficult for him.<\/p>\n

\u201cOf course, he\u2019s competing for the biggest titles, but maybe physically, he is lacking somehow.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor Shanghai, it was [Valentin] Vacherot who won. There\u2019s also [Carlos] Alcaraz and [Jannik] Sinner<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cMaybe his level of play is a little bit lower than those players.\u201d<\/p>\n

Djokovic will be a big miss in Paris, but there is still plenty to look forward to at the final Masters 1000 event of the season.<\/p>\n

Top three matches to watch in round one of the Paris MastersValentin Vacherot vs Jiri Lehecka<\/p>\n

The man of the moment, Valentin Vacherot, proved he wasn\u2019t a one-hit wonder<\/a> with an impressive showing against Taylor Fritz in Basel.<\/p>\n

He\u2019ll no doubt be eager to produce another stellar performance when he takes on European Open runner-up Jiri Lehecka<\/a> in Paris.<\/p>\n

Denis Shapovalov vs Joao Fonseca<\/p>\n

Canada\u2019s Denis Shapovalov retired from his Basel quarterfinal<\/a> against Joao Fonseca on Friday to a chorus of boos.<\/p>\n

\"DenisPhoto by FABRICE COFFRINI\/AFP via Getty Images<\/p>\n

The 26-year-old complained about the time Fonseca<\/a> was taking between points during the match, expressing his frustrations to the umpire.<\/p>\n

It will be interesting to see how the pair get on when they play each other just a week later at the Paris Masters.<\/p>\n

Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard vs Grigor Dimitrov<\/p>\n

The Bulgarian fan favorite is set to make his long-awaited return to tennis in Paris, having last been seen at Wimbledon<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Looking to mark his return with a win, Dimitrov<\/a> will take on the big-serving Frenchman Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard in what promises to be an intriguing contest.<\/p>\n

There are several other exciting matchups in round one, including Alexei Popyrin vs Alexander Bublik and Daniil Medvedev<\/a> vs Jaume Munar.<\/p>\n

Even without Djokovic in attendance, you certainly won\u2019t want to miss any of the action when the Paris Masters begins on Monday, October 27.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Follow us on Google Discover Novak Djokovic won\u2019t be competing at the Paris Masters next week. After losing…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":251939,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[72],"tags":[430,137114,433,127103,99,428],"class_list":["post-251938","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-tennis","tag-atp","tag-cedric-pioline","tag-novak-djokovic","tag-paris-masters","tag-sports","tag-tennis"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/251938","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=251938"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/251938\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/251939"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=251938"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=251938"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=251938"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}