Federer hunts 100th ATP title at Paris Masters

Roger Federer is poised to seek his 100th ATP title at the Paris Masters this week with organisers announcing that the Swiss great was to arrive on Tuesday.

If the holder of 20 Grand Slam titles lines up at Bercy it will be his first appearance at the last Masters event of the season since 2015. The 37-year-old Swiss star won his 99th career title at the weekend in Basel but has not played in Paris in three years due to injury and selective scheduling of tournaments.

Federer “arrives tomorrow” organisers tweeted on Monday.

He faces either Jo-Wilfried Tsonga or Milos Raonic on Wednesday. Portugal’s Joao Sousa will meet Novak Djokovic in the second round after defeating Marco Cecchinato 7-5 6-3 in his opening match.

Cecchinato stunned Djokovic in the quarterfinals of the French Open in June, but the Italian missed out on a rematch with Djokovic as he fell apart after losing his serve at 5-5 in the opening set.

Second seed Djokovic is a four-time champion in Paris and is bidding to reclaim the world No 1 ranking from Rafael Nadal this week.

The Spaniard, who has never won the indoor tournament, is making his return from the knee injury that scuppered his US Open chances.

Serbia’s Filip Krajinovic, runner-up in Paris in 2017, slid to a first-round defeat by Karen Khachanov.