Djokovic hits the ground running in Paris

Defending champion Novak Djokovic opened his Paris Masters campaign with a routine 7-6(1) 6-4 win over Maxime Cressy on Tuesday, while Andrey Rublev and Hubert Hurkacz stayed in the hunt for a place at the ATP Finals with straight-sets victories. Djokovic, a six-time winner at the ATP Masters 1000 event in the French capital, was […]

Defending champion Novak Djokovic opened his Paris Masters campaign with a routine 7-6(1) 6-4 win over Maxime Cressy on Tuesday, while Andrey Rublev and Hubert Hurkacz stayed in the hunt for a place at the ATP Finals with straight-sets victories.

Djokovic, a six-time winner at the ATP Masters 1000 event in the French capital, was made to toil in the opening set by Cressy but emerged unscathed after the American double-faulted twice in the tiebreak.

• Parents cry out as bandits abduct 39 children from Katsina farm 
• Naira’s local problems in global context

The Serbian raised his game in the second set, breaking his opponent at 4-4 before serving out the match with ease.