Paris Masters: Novak Djokovic beats Maxime Cressy in two sets
Novak Djokovic got his Paris Masters title defence under way with a straight-set victory against American Maxime Cressy.
The former world number one, who got a bye into the second round, beat Cressy 7-6 (7-1) 6-4 as he started his bid for a record-extending seventh title.
It is a 17th straight win for Serbia’s 21-time Grand Slam champion, 35.
Earlier, Britain’s Dan Evans and Jack Draper claimed wins to reach the last 32 in Paris-Bercy.
Djokovic dominated the tie-break in the opening set before seizing the only break of the match to go 5-4 up in the second and served out for his 11th win in a row at the Paris Masters.
Cressy, who produced 36 winners to Djokovic’s 19, was let down by 22 unforced errors compared to the sixth seed’s five.
Djokovic will face Switzerland’s Marc-Andrea Huesler or Russian Karen Khachnov in the next round.
“It was very intense, just a lot of pressure,” Djokovic said.
“When you play someone that serves this well – first and second serve – you don’t have much room to relax and maybe play a ‘softer’ few games.
“A break came at the right time, perfect time actually. I was very pleased with the way I held my serve; didn’t face a break point.”
Elsewhere, British number two Evans won for the first time in his career at the Paris Masters as he aims to finish his ATP season on a high.
Evans, 32, won 6-3 3-6 6-4 against 21-year-old American Brandon Nakashima to reach the second round of the final regular event in the men’s season.
The world number 27 will play Greek fifth seed Stefanos Tsitsipas next.
Fast-rising Draper, 20, joined Evans in the last 32 with a 6-3 6-4 win over France’s Arthur Rinderknech.
Draper has moved into the world’s top 50 on the back of an impressive breakthrough year, showing why he is considered as one of the sport’s most promising talents.
The left-hander, who has qualified for the upcoming NextGen ATP finals for the season’s best players aged under 21, once again demonstrated his ability and confidence with a comfortable win over French number one Rinderknech on his Paris debut.
Draper will play American Frances Tiafoe, who reached the US Open semi-finals in September, in the second round.
In contrast to Draper, Evans has been a late bloomer in terms of professional success, having reached a career-high ranking inside the world’s 25 and earning his first ATP title since turning 30.
Finally winning a match at the Paris indoors event – one of the ATP Tour’s nine Masters 1000 events and which always attracts a high quality field – was another notable first.
Evans started strongly by breaking his opponent’s serve in the third game, drawing more errors by Nakashima from the baseline on his way to sealing the set.
Nakashima fought back in the second set which followed the same pattern as the first, this time in the world number 50’s favour, when he broke in the third and ninth games.
Moving forward to the net and showing his variety helped Evans take control of the deciding set. He broke for a 3-2 lead and saw off a break point at 4-3, but was unable to convert either of his two match points in the next game.
Having lost some tight three-set matches recently, Evans ensured it would not happen again as he served out victory in an impressive all-round performance.
Evans and Draper joined British number one Cameron Norrie, who is seeded 12th, in the second round.
