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Paris Masters Review: Medvedev triumphs and Nadal “happy with game”


World number five Daniil Medvedev became Paris Masters champion for the first time.

In a high-quality final against German Alexander Zverev, the world number seven and one of the Tour’s in-form players, Medvedev fought back from dropping the opening set to prevail 5-7 6-4 6-1 and complete his preparation for the upcoming Nitto ATP Finals in London.

Both Medvedev and Zverev will be considered among the favourites to win in London after impressive weeks in Paris. The pair traded long baseline points over the course of two closely contested opening sets, before Medvedev went through the gears to break Zverev three times in the final set to clinch victory. The Russian’s big serving and clinical conversion of break points proved decisive, with Zverev converting one of only seven break point opportunities in the match.

In the absence of world number one Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer, the tournament still featured three of the world’s top eight players in the semi-finals and, in Milos Raonic, a former Wimbledon finalist. One of those semi-finalists was world number two Nadal who, despite losing to Zverev in straight sets, said that “I am happy with my game because I felt better than at the beginning of the week”. Nadal defeated compatriots Feliciano Lopez and Pablo Carreno-Busta en route to the last four, claiming his 1,000th tour win against Lopez. After winning a record-breaking thirteenth title at Roland Garros in September, Nadal’s performance on the other side of the French capital could not bring the Spaniard a first Paris Masters crown.

Meanwhile, after a breakthrough year in 2020, world number nine Diego Schwartzman put in a solid quarter-final showing in Paris to qualify for the year-end finals, although Russian Andrey Rublev failed to continue his recent winning streak with a last 16 loss to Stan Wawrinka. Raonic, the world number 13, beat Antwerp winner Ugo Humbert in the quarter-final before losing to Medvedev, capping a positive year for the Canadian after recent injuries.


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Tim Farthing, Tennishead Editorial Director & Owner, has been a huge tennis fan his whole life. He's a tennis journalist and entrepreneur as well as playing tennis to a national standard. He also helps manage his local club and volunteers for his local tennis organisation. He's a specialist in content about the administration of professional tennis and tennis coaching for all levels.