From the thunderous serves of Boris Becker and graceful volleys of Stefan Edberg in the 1980s and 1990s to the ruthless base dominance of contemporary ATP Tour stars like Novak Djokovic and Daniil Medvedev, the Rolex Paris Masters has long been a proving ground for ATP No. 1 Club members.
Since the tournament was given a new identity in 1986, nine different ATP No. 1 Club members together achieved 21 trophies at the indoor hard court event. This year, Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner are among the favorites to join that elite list.
Djokovic, whose total of 428 weeks at the top of the PIF ATP Rankings, leads the ATP No. 1 Club, holds a record seven titles at the tournament. His most recent victory in Paris, in 2023, marked his record-extending 40th Masters 1000 crown. “This victory is definitely one of the most special victories in the Masters 1000 category,” the Serbian said at the time.
Medvedev is this year’s ATP No. 1 Club members in Paris and the 29-year-old is in good form after a title run in Almaty, his first trophy in more than two years. The 21-time tour-level title winner won Paris in 2020 and made a remarkable comeback in the final against Alexander Zverev. Trailing 5-7, 3-4, Medvedev won nine of his last 10 matches, turning the match – and his season – around.
“Before the tournament I wasn’t in my best shape. This year I didn’t play that bad with zero finals,” said Medvedev, who carried his momentum into the Nitto ATP Finals and won the year-end event two weeks later. “I was actually crying to my wife – not crying – but just complaining: ‘Oh my God, I’m not at the level, I don’t even have one final, I’m playing so bad’, blah blah blah… So finally I’m the winner of the Rolex Paris Masters.”
A win in Paris often foreshadowed success at the Nitto ATP Finals in the season finale, as Andy Murray demonstrated in 2016. Murray ended the year on a 24-match winning streak and captured his only Rolex Paris Masters title – which was also his last Masters 1000 win – before defeating Novak Djokovic at the Nitto ATP Finals, a match that decided the ATP Year-End No. 1 crown, awarded by PIF.
Roger Federer, one of tennis’ most talented icons with 103 tour-level titles, found Paris a more difficult conquest. He won the Rolex Paris Masters only once, in 2011, ending the season on a 17-match winning streak. “I had many attempts to win Paris, but for some reason it didn’t work. It’s a special victory,” Federer reflected.
The Rolex Paris Masters switched from carpet to hard courts in 2007, but even during the carpet era, conditions favored tough baseliners like Marat Safin, who claimed three of the first five titles of the 21st century (2000, 2002, 2004).
Safin also reached the 1999 final but fell to Andre Agassi, who, along with rival Pete Sampras, claimed multiple Paris titles in the 1990s. Agassi completed a rare Paris double in 1999, winning both Roland Garros and the indoor event in November. His first win at the Paris Masters came in 1994.
Sandwiched between Agassi’s victories in Paris, Sampras won the title twice. In 1997, Paris was one of Sampras’ eight tour-level titles that year alone. In 1995, the American claimed Paris by beating Becker in the final. Becker was the first player to claim three Paris titles (1986, 1989 and 1992).
Edberg’s aggressive play and exceptional net skills helped him to the title in Paris in 1990. In a repeat of that year’s epic Wimbledon final, the Paris final proved far less dramatic. Becker retired after just six games due to a thigh injury. It was the only retirement in Edberg and Becker’s 35 Lexus ATP Head2Head meetings.
This year’s top two seeds, Alcaraz and Sinner, have yet to win at the Rolex Paris Masters. In the latest edition, could one of them lift the trophy in a week’s time?
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