Novak Djokovic and Carlos Alcaraz faced each other in a rare practice session ahead of this week’s Paris Masters 2023. With the battle for the year-end World No.1 spot currently on between both the players, they were pitted against each other in their warm-up session on Sunday, 29th October.
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The upcoming Paris Masters will be the first event since the US Open 2023 to feature both the players. They will be the top two seeds in the final ATP Masters 1000 tournament of the year.
Novak Djokovic enters the tournament as the World No.1. He will return to action in the tour for the first time since his UP Open victory.
Alcaraz meanwhile recently suffered an injury and pulled out of the Swiss Open. The 20-year old has recovered and will be making his return to Paris after a week-long break.
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Novak Djokovic vs Carlos Alcaraz – Battle for World No.1
Novak Djokovic leads the ATP Rankings with 11,045 ranking points. Carlos Alcaraz meanwhile is second with 8,805 points to his name.
The Paris Masters is crucial to both the players. Djokovic is defending 1200 ranking points by virtue of his runner-up finish last year. Alcaraz meanwhile reached the semifinal in the last edition and is defending 720 points.
If Djokovic wins the title at Paris Masters, then it will close the doors for Alcaraz to get to the World No.1 spot. However if the Serbian fails to do that, the ATP Finals at the end of the year provides a perfect opportunity for the Spaniard to surpass Djokovic in the rankings.