Five names to watch out for at the ATP Paris Masters
Could Tsonga, Thiem, Goffin, Bautista Agut and Zverev make a challenge?
Wednesday 2 November 2016 08:29, UK
With Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray battling it out for the right to end the season as world No 1, there are a whole host of names ready to make the step up and challenge for the Paris Masters 1000 title.
Two tennis greats, Rafa Nadal and Roger Federer may be missing for the rest of 2016, but there are a bunch of hungry, talented players - in the Top 20 - who could pose a genuine threat to the big two.
Here, we pick out five contenders heading to the French capital with realistic hopes of making progress to the latter stages of the tournament...
Jo-Wilfried Tsonga
Tsonga is enjoying something of an end of season renaissance after reaching his first final of the season at the Erst Bank Open in Vienna where the 15th-ranked Frenchman lost out to Andy Murray.
The 31-year-old suffered a dip in the rankings due to a number of injuries including a muscle strain and an adductor muscle injury which forced him out of the French Open.
The former Australian Open finalist hasn't won an ATP Tour title since his victory on home soil in Metz last year, although he did reach the Wimbledon and US Open quarter-finals.
But the powerful athlete is back with a bang following his marvellous run in the Austrian capital and the passionate Parisian crowd will be right behind their man. He will be expected to deliver after his heroics in Vienna.
Dominic Thiem
The ninth-ranked Austrian is enjoying a breakthrough year on the circuit and has become a regular name to look out for in the latter stages of tournaments after winning four titles.
Thiem, 23, defeated clay-court king Rafa Nadal to claim silverware in Buenos Aires, while he holds two wins over Roger Federer on grass, including the final of the ATP Mercedes Cup in Stuttgart.
As well as collecting further titles in Acapulco and Nice, he also reached the semi-final of the French Open and claimed the $250,000 (£204,000) jackpot at the Tie-Break Tens.
Under the guidance of coach Gunther Bresnik, 'The Dominator' is a stylish player with classy ground strokes and a sublime backhand. He has proven himself as a threat to any of the world's top players.
David Goffin
The Belgian landed on the tennis map when he reached the fourth round of the French Open as a lucky loser four years ago before losing out to his idol Roger Federer.
Since then he's had his ups and downs on the Tour with two titles in 2014 at Kitzbuhel and Metz, but nothing since.
He's been a perennial quarter-finalist, reaching that stage or better 11 times this year, with his best performance coming at the Japan Open where he lost out to Nick Kyrgios in the final.
Goffin, 25, has a very Federer-esque style with a smooth and fluid rhythm - he'll be one to keep a close eye on in Paris.
Roberto Bautista Agut
Not a name that rolls off the tongue, but the Spaniard has enjoyed a hugely successful campaign adding Auckland and Sofia to the two ATP titles he won in 2014.
His confidence on court has shone brightly in recent months culminating in a superb run at the Masters 1000 event in Shanghai this October.
The 28-year-old produced arguably his greatest ever performance with a semi-final victory against world No 1 Novak Djokovic, but couldn't produce it in the final against Andy Murray.
Bautista Agut pledged to make his game style more aggressive this year and it's worked with the world No 14 playing some eye-opening tennis of late.
Alexander Zverev
Already hailed as a future world No 1, Zverev recently boosted his growing reputation with a stunning semi-final win over Roger Federer at the Gerry Weber Open.
Zverev would suffer defeat in the final as the experienced Florian Mayer gave a sobering lesson to the swaggering youngster in Halle.
The 19-year-old German, who catches the eye by wearing gold jewellery, also gave Rafa Nadal a scare at Indian Wells this year as he let a match point slip away in a three-set defeat.
Nicknamed Sasha, Zverev was runner-up at the French Open Juniors 2013, and his rise up the rankings is no real surprise with his father a former pro and his mother is a tennis coach. His brother, Mischa, is also a professional player.
Check our game-by-game updates from Andy Murray's matches at the Paris Masters and ATP World Tour Finals from London on skysports.com/tennis, our app for mobile devices and iPad and our Twitter account @skysportstennis.
