by Five of the top eight seeds, including world number 1 Carlos Alcaraz and new fathers Rafael Nadal and Daniil Medvedev, will be present on the third day of the Paris Masters on Wednesday.
Seeded Alcaraz, who has not yet taken his step since his US Open victory, faces Yoshihito Nishioka from Japan in the second round in what will be their first ever fight.
The Spaniard heads for the match after a semi-final defeat at the Swiss Indoors and a first-round defeat at the Astana Open.
He suffered a third round defeat to Hugo Gaston last year and is hoping for a longer stay this year, recounting Eurosport: “It was a difficult time and it helped me learn how to deal with it. The players are alone on the pitch and we need to know how to deal with certain situations.
“I come here to continue enjoying this tournament and not to take revenge.”
Second seed Nadal is back in action after becoming a father in October and face Tommy Paul from the US for the second time this year after winning the clash in Acapulco.
The 22-time Grand Slam winner has yet to win the Paris Masters with his best result in a run to the final in 2007, as he missed last year’s edition due to injury.
“You have to be confident,” he said. “You have to play aggressively. It’s a surface that if you’re not serving well, that’s the hardest part. You have to have automatic things like this [serve], because a couple of mistakes, it’s not like clay where you can have time to go back. If you lose your service, then you’re in big trouble. “
Medvedev, meanwhile, is fresh from victory at the Vienna Open and faces a potentially difficult match while up against Alex de Minaur. Their heads-up record, however, suggests it should be a win for the Russian who leads 4-0.
Fifth-seed Stefanos Tsitsipas, who lost in the second round in Vienna and finished second in Stockholm, faces his campaign against British No.2 Dan Evans with the Greek 3-0 H2H.
Two more Britons will be in attendance on Wednesday as rising star Jack Draper will face sixteenth seed Frances Tiafoe while British No.1 Cameron Norrie will face World No.6 Corentin Moutet from France.
Scheduled start times for the big matches of the Paris Masters
Jack Draper vs Frances Tiafoe – 10:00 GMT
Stefanos Tsitsipas vs Dan Evans – 10:00 GMT
Daniil Medvedev vs Alex de Minaur – 11:30 GMT (Tsitsipas-Evans match on center court follows)
Carlos Alcaraz vs Yoshihito Nishioka – 13:00 GMT (Medvedev-De Minaur match follows)
Hubert Hurkacz vs Holger Rune – Not before 14:30 GMT
Tommy Paul vs Rafael Nadal – Not before 18:30 GMT
Corentin Moutet vs Cameron Norrie – Not before 20:00 GMT
Like watching the Paris Masters
Those in the UK and Ireland can follow the Paris Masters on Amazon Prime Video. Don’t forget that new customers can sign up for £ 8.99 per month and are eligible for a 30 day free trial.
Tennis Channel has the rights to all ATP tournaments in the United States with a TSN covering Canada and ESPN the reference channel in Latin America. beIN Sports broadcasts ATP events in Australia, the Middle East, North Africa and parts of Asia.
Other broadcasters include Eurosport (France and many other European countries), Canal + (France), Sportcast (Italy), Sky Deutschland (Germany), SuperSport (South Africa), Telefonica (Spain) and WOWOW (Japan).
READ ALSO: Daniil Medvedev dedicates the title of Vienna to his wife: “He gave me the best gift: my daughter”
The article Carlos Alcaraz, Rafael Nadal, Daniil Medvedev in action at the Paris Masters: match times, TV information and streaming first appeared on Tennis365.com.
