Tennis 10sBalls Look At Paris Indoors • Djokovic, Nadal, And Federer All Playing

By Ricky Dimon

The 2019 BNP Paribas Masters draw was revealed on Friday and the top three players on tour are all still scheduled to show up. World No. 1 Novak Djokovic leads the way as the top seed, while Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer are on a collision course for the semifinals in the bottom half of the bracket.

Nadal has not played an ATP event since winning the U.S. Open, instead taking time off–aside from the Laver Cup–to nurse a wrist/hand injury and to get married. The Spaniard can clinch the year-end No. 1 ranking with a title in Paris, but he has never lifted the trophy at this event.

In fact, Nadal has played the Paris Masters only six times and has not completed it since 2015 (he withdrew prior to the quarterfinals in his only appearance since then in 2017). At the end of a long year, it is always rare for almost all of the best players in the world to be healthy and ready to go for the final tournament of the proverbial regular season. This time around, however, the Big 3 are also joined in the field by Daniil Medvedev, Dominic Thiem, Alexander Zverev, Stefanos Tsitsipas, Matteo Berrettini, and defending Paris champion Karen Khachanov. Of the top 17 men in the world, only Kei Nishikori (elbow issue) is missing.

That means all eight players currently in Nitto ATP Finals position are in Paris. Nadal, Djokovic, Federer, Medvedev, Thiem, and Tsitsipas have clinched spots. Zverev and Berrettini are both looking good in seventh and eighth place, respectively. Roberto Bautista Agut is within realistic striking distance but must reach at least the Paris quarters.

Berrettini put a little bit more more distance between himself and Bautista Agut this week before falling to Dominic Thiem in the Vienna semifinals on Saturday. Gael Monfils is still alive in Vienna and would be in the serious London mix if he captures the title.

If the seeds hold to form, quarterfinal matchups would be Djokovic vs. Tsitsipas, Medvedev vs. Thiem, Federer vs. Zverev, and Nadal vs. Khachanov.

Ricky contributes to 10sballs.com and also maintains his own tennis website, The Grandstand. You can follow him on twitter at @Dimonator.