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Watch the ATP Challenger Tour event in Ismaning, Germany and you will see a carpet court as orange as leaves turning colour in autumn. Do not be mistaken, it is not red clay, it is the last carpet tournament remaining on the ATP Challenger Tour or higher.

Swiss Marc-Andrea Huesler, who is seeded eighth at the Wolffkran Open by Tannenhof this week, is no stranger to the surface. Despite rarely competing on carpet at the pro level, the 27-year-old has found success in Ismaning, where he was crowned champion in 2020.

“Carpet is a bit special. It’s a bit of a changeup, pretty fast but absolutely playable,” Huelser told ATPTour.com. “I grew up on carpet a little so I know what it's like. It plays pretty fast, especially serving, it’s really important. It’s easier to get free points with your serve, especially the slider serve, it somehow accelerates on the floor.

“It’s similar to grass because you have to stay low. If you manage to take the ball early, go to net and use the pace your opponent gives you, then you’re a good carpet player.”

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At age 36, Novak Djokovic has accomplished almost everything possible in tennis. The Serbian's next milestone could be becoming the first player to reach 400 weeks as the World No. 1 in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings.

The 24-time major champion, who has held the top spot for a record 397 weeks, shared some of his career-best memories and what has kept his fire ignited in the latest ATP Uncovered ‘Legacy’ feature.

“I was never satisfied with anything else but No. 1,” Djokovic said. “I always wanted to win Wimbledon and be No. 1. Those were the two childhood dreams.”

Watch the full video below to relive what Djokovic said following his first tour-level title in 2006, highlights of several key moments throughout his journey and see how he has climbed the ladder of the Pepperstone ATP Rankings.

Ivan Dodig and Austin Krajicek earned a comeback win on Wednesday at the Rolex Paris Masters, where they moved past Frenchmen Sadio Doumbia and Fabien Reboul 3-6, 6-3, 10-4 to reach the quarter-finals.

The top seeds, who have already qualified for this month’s Nitto ATP Finals, fired 10 aces and won 80 per cent (32/40) of their first-serve points to advance after one hour and 30 minutes at the ATP Masters 1000 event.

Dodig and Krajicek are chasing their sixth tour-level title of the season as a team, with their triumphs including a trophy at the Masters 1000 tournament in Monte-Carlo. They reached the final in Paris-Bercy last year, losing against Wesley Koolhof and Neal Skupski.

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In other action, Santiago Gonzalez and Edouard Roger-Vasselin moved past Jamie Murray and Michael Venus 6-4, 6-3 to end the British-Kiwi Team's Nitto ATP Finals qualification hopes.

Novak Djokovic tightened his grip on the ATP Year-End No. 1 presented by Pepperstone honour Wednesday when he moved past Tomas Martin Etcheverry 6-3, 6-2 to reach the third round at the Rolex Paris Masters.

“I am pleased,” Djokovic said. “I think I played well in the important points. Hit the extra shot and made him uncomfortable. I think I changed the position of the court and did not give him the same look. I think that allowed me to break serve in the first set. I was serving up and down. Some parts of the match really good, others losing the rhythm. But I think it is normal to be rusty a little bit after not playing an official match for so long. But a straight-sets win against a guy who has been improving so much.”

The World No. 1 leads Carlos Alcaraz by 580 points in the Pepperstone ATP Live Race To Turin and could extended his advantage to 1,495 points by winning a record-extending seventh title in Paris-Bercy after the Spaniard lost in his opening match on Tuesday.

In front of a packed crowd on Court Central, Djokovic was in complete control against Etcheverry, who has tracked his ATP Pepperstone Ranking position in comparison to the Serbian in recent years.

Started from the bottom now we here ? ? pic.twitter.com/iBsAJM2YWm

Stefanos Tsitsipas passed a stiff second-round test from the resurgent Felix Auger-Aliassime on Wednesday at the Rolex Paris Masters, where the Greek’s serving under pressure helped him seal a 6-3, 7-6(4) triumph.

Tsitsipas saved six of seven break points he faced in his one-hour, 48-minute victory to improve his Lexus ATP Head2Head record against Auger-Aliassime to 6-3. He rallied from 2-5 in the second set, fending off four set points overall before clinching his first win against the Canadian since 2021.

In it to WIN it ?@steftsitsipas saves FOUR set points in the second set before moving past Auger-Aliassime and into the third round! @RolexPMasters | #RolexParisMasters pic.twitter.com/v3FJ8QObrt

Although last week’s Basel champion Auger-Aliassime fired 25 winners, including nine aces, to Tsitsipas’ 18 on Court Central, the seventh seed kept his cool to register his 49th tour-level win of 2023. The 25-year-old will next look to hit his half century for the season when he takes on 10th seed Alexander Zverev or home favourite Ugo Humbert at Accor Arena.

Wednesday's hard-earned result could be key for Tsitsipas as he looks to secure his spot at the Nitto ATP Finals for the fifth consecutive year. The 2019 champion at the prestigious season finale, the Greek is currently sixth in the Pepperstone ATP Live Race To Turin, with an 810 point cushion to ninth-placed Hubert Hurkacz.

Hubert Hurkacz hit a milestone Wednesday at the Rolex Paris Masters, where he surpassed 1,000 aces this season during his second-round match against Roberto Bautista Agut.

The 26-year-old had 985 aces going into the match and hit an additional 19 on the day, becoming the first player to hit 1,000 aces in a season since Americans John Isner and Reilly Opelka in 2019, according to Infosys ATP Stats.

"I'm really excited about hitting 1,000 aces this season," Hurkacz told ATPTour.com. "Hopefully there are still a couple more to come, but didn't expect it at the beginning of the year, so definitely the serve has been working a little bit. Just excited, hopefully it's going to help me to put a couple of more good results this year and really proud of the work with the whole team."

At ninth in the Pepperstone ATP Live Race To Turin, Hurkacz is averaging 15 aces per match this season, in which he has claimed titles in Marseille and last month in Shanghai.

The 6’5” Pole is the first player shorter than 6'8" to hit 1,000 aces since Canadian Milos Raonic fired 1,107 aces in 2014.

Grigor Dimitrov dug deep to complete a prompt revenge job Wednesday at the Rolex Paris Masters.

The Bulgarian battled to a 6-3, 6-7(4), 7-6(2) triumph against Daniil Medvedev to reach the third round at the ATP Masters 1000 event in the French capital. Dimitrov led by a set before falling to defeat in the pair’s second-round clash in Vienna just six days ago, but he made no mistake this time around as he powered 48 winners to Medvedev’s 22 for his first victory against the World No. 3 since 2021.

Dimitrov struggled to serve out the match after maintaining the upper hand for much of the deciding set. He led 5-2 before letting slip four match points on his own serve at 5-4 and then another two on return at 6-5, but the World No. 17 kept his composure admirably to dominate the deciding tie-break and seal a two-hour, 54-minute win.

SEVEN match points later! ?⭐️

Grigor Dimitrov | #RolexParisMasters pic.twitter.com/J9eL4wGEPg

“At 5-4 and 40/15, I just didn’t go enough for my shots,” said Dimitrov. “That’s it, and against a player like him, he’s going to take it, simple as that. I could have done a few things differently. Obviously, it’s very different when you see it from the outside now, but I’m going to watch a little bit for sure.

ATP & digital art platform Artchild have partnered to launch POSTERS, limited edition tennis posters customisable by fans. The collaboration kicks off at the season-ending Nitto ATP Finals (12-19 November) with an Official Poster by acclaimed artist Honor Titus.

Honor Titus is a visual artist based in Los Angeles, California. A passionate tennis fan and player of the sport, Titus often makes tennis the subject of his internationally exhibited paintings, using the game as a lens for broader reflection on society. His innovative collaboration with ATP and Artchild builds upon a longstanding tradition of iconic sporting posters, collected by fans across generations.

© 2023 Nitto ATP Finals Official Poster by Honor Titus
Fans will be able to customise and purchase their own versions of the Nitto ATP Finals Official Poster, using the Artchild digital canvas and artist-curated colour palettes. Each will come to life as a physical print, shipped to fans’ homes, paired with a digital collectible powered by Polygon. A selection of these fan-customised posters will go on to be showcased live at the Pala Alpitour arena, home of the Nitto ATP Finals.

The Official Poster and digital counterpart, in the original version designed by Honor Titus, will be available for purchase exclusively during the 2023 Nitto ATP Finals.

Honor Titus photographed at the Beverly Hills Tennis Club. © Mikayla Jean Miller 2023

Carlos Alcaraz’s stunning opening-round loss at the Rolex Paris Masters on Tuesday had wider consequences than simply his elimination from the season's final ATP Masters 1000 event. With the defeat, the Spaniard’s chances of earning a second consecutive ATP Year-End No. 1 presented by Pepperstone honour dropped significantly.

Six-time Paris champion Novak Djokovic now has an opportunity to press his advantage this week. The Serbian leads the Spaniard by 500 points in the Pepperstone ATP Live Race To Turin and could extend his lead to 1,495 points by lifting the trophy in Bercy. The Live Race serves as a barometer for the year-end No. 1 battle.

A gap that wide would nearly put the battle out of reach for Alcaraz with only one more week in the regular season (he has not entered the ATP 250 events in Metz or Sofia, but could accept a wild card) and then the Nitto ATP Finals, where a maximum of 1,500 points are up for grabs.

Pepperstone ATP Live Race To Turin (31 October)

Should Djokovic emerge victorious at the Rolex Paris Masters for the seventh time, he would be on the verge of extending his record of year-end No. 1 finishes to eight. The 36-year-old last accomplished the feat in 2021.

Carlos Alcaraz had few complaints about how he struck the ball during his surprise opening-round loss to Roman Safiullin at the Rolex Paris Masters on Tuesday night. But his movement?That's another story.

“I just didn't feel well on the court,” the World No. 2 said. “A lot of things to improve, a lot of things to practise. I didn't move well. In the shots, I think I had a good quality of shots. But physically in the part of movement, I have to improve a lot.”

Alcaraz, who was forced to pull out of Basel due to problems with his left foot and lower back, was competing for the first time since his defeat to Grigor Dimitrov 20 days ago in the Shanghai last 16.

[SWEEPSTAKES]

Alcaraz’s let slip an early break of serve in both sets during his 6-3, 6-4 defeat to the World No. 45 in their first Lexus ATP Head2Head meeting. But having seen Safiullin’s dramatic rise from outside the Top 100 of the Pepperstone ATP Rankings since early May, the Spaniard said that he expected a tough fight against the Wimbledon quarter-finalist.

Roman Safiullin earned the biggest win of his career year by stunning Carlos Alcaraz on Tuesday evening at the Rolex Paris Masters. The qualifier recovered an early break in both sets of a shock 6-3, 6-4 victory, dealing Alcaraz his first opening-round loss of 2023.

Safiullin is up to No. 39 in the Pepperstone ATP Live Rankings with the victory, setting himself up to break into the Top 40 for the first time. The 26-year-old's upset win against Alcaraz follows breakthrough runs to the Wimbledon quarter-finals and the Chengdu final in recent months.

"Since qualies, I was not playing at this level but against Carlos and these Top 10, Top 20 guys, you have to lift up the level," Safiullin said post-match. "I managed to do it.

"For Carlos, it was not his best performance, but still I'm happy that I can win... Even if he's not in the best shape it's tough to beat him. So I'm really happy that I made it."

[SWEEPSTAKES]

Dominic Thiem views food as more than just a meal, the Austrian explained in the latest edition of ATP Uncovered’s What I Eat series.

“Food is obviously something very important. It’s like which fuel you put in the car,” Thiem said. “It’s the same with the food and your body. It’s so important. It gets you going or it can also slow you down.”

[SWEEPSTAKES]

When the former World No. 3 was younger, he “didn’t care so much” about what he ate. But his mindset regarding nutrition has changed.

“The past five to 10 years, I got more and more aware of it,” Thiem said. “And now I try to eat healthy, to eat conscious and to have a good relationship with food.”

A topsy-turvy year has Holger Rune hungry for a strong finish to the season.

In the first half of 2023, Rune saved four championship points to triumph in Munich, sandwiched in between final appearances at the ATP Masters 1000 events in Monte-Carlo and Rome. But following his Wimbledon quarter-final run, the World No. 7 in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings has won just four of his past 12 matches.

Perhaps there is no better place to find his best form than at this week’s Rolex Paris Masters, where he is aiming to defend the title.

[SWEEPSTAKES]

“It's a good fight. It's the last push of the season,” Rune told the ATP Podcast in Paris. “I'm really ready to give it my all and then prepare for the next one.”

After notching a first-round win in Shanghai last month, Arthur Fils paused to sign the TV camera near the umpire’s chair, as is customary at many ATP Tour events. The #NextGenATP star's message, 'Moving Like La Monf', was as much for his good friend and fellow Frenchman, Gael Monfils, as it was for fans watching at home.

“[It referred to] everything,” Fils told ATPTour.com last week when asked exactly what he had meant by his camera salute to Monfils. “I mean, on the court I'm trying to move like him. He is 37 years old, and he is moving like a god. And of course, [off court] he's a smooth guy, walking nicely and everything, so I'm doing it like him.”

Fils' message caught the attention of the man himself.

“It was very nice for me, to be honest,” said Monfils, who earlier this month lifted his 12th ATP Tour title in Stockholm. “I was flattered."

It's all in the name ??

Arthur Fils x @Gael_Monfils
#RolexShanghaiMasters | @SH_RolexMasters pic.twitter.com/aXIInm0hld

Hugo Dellien endured double duty Sunday to triumph at the ATP Challenger Tour event in Curitiba, Brazil while Lukas Klein saved two championship points to claim the title in Ortisei, Italy.

After rain forced Dellien to play his semi-final and final match on Sunday, the 30-year-old survived two deciding-set matches to return to the winners’ circle. The Bolivian rallied past Argentine Guido Andreozzi in a two-hour, 47-minute semi-final before returning to court to collect his 10th title at the ATP Challenger Tour level and second of this season. Dellien defeated American Oliver Crawford 7-6(6), 4-6, 7-6(1) in the Festval Challenger final.

“What a crazy Sunday, six hours on court! They were worth the trophy!’ Dellien wrote in Spanish on Instagram.

Klein won seven matches in eight days as he advanced through qualifying en route to winning the Sparkasse Challenger Val Gardena in Ortisei, Italy. In the final, Klein saved two match points to escape Poland’s Maks Kasnikowski 6-7(4), 7-6(4), 7-6(6) after two hours, 38 minutes.

Alex de Minaur has Andy Murray’s number.

In September, the Australian rallied from 2-5 down in the third set against the Scot to triumph in Beijing, saving match points in the process. Fast forward four weeks and history repeated itself at the Rolex Paris Masters on Monday. De Minaur battled from 2-5 behind in Paris, saving one match point to defeat former champion Murray 7-6(5), 4-6, 7-5.

The Australian hung tough in a three-hour battle against the former World No. 1. He saved the match point when Murray was serving at 5-4, 40/30 and won the final five games of the match to improve 6-0 in the pair’s Lexus ATP Head2Head series. Four of their meetings have come in 2023.

[SWEEPSTAKES]

With his 43rd win of the year, De Minaur kept alive his slim Nitto ATP Finals qualification chances. The 24-year-old is 13th in the Pepperstone ATP Live Race To Turin, 685 points behind Holger Rune, who occupies the final qualification spot in eighth.

Marcel Granollers and Horacio Zeballos have qualified for the Nitto ATP Finals together for the fourth consecutive year. They will try to earn their first team title at the season finale in Turin from 12-19 November.

The two-time year-end championships semi-finalists (2020 and 2021) are the fifth team to qualify, joining Ivan Dodig/Austin Krajicek, Wesley Koolhof/Neal Skupski, Rohan Bopanna/Matthew Ebden and defending champions Rajeev Ram/Joe Salisbury.

The veteran doubles players have enjoyed a standout year at the majors, which has propelled them to the season finale.

Granollers and Zeballos reached the final at Wimbledon and the semi-finals at the Australian Open and Roland Garros. The Spanish-Argentine duo won an ATP Masters 1000 title in Shanghai and also made semi-finals at that level in Rome and Toronto.

Granollers will make his eighth appearance at the Nitto ATP Finals and try to secure his second crown after lifting the trophy with Marc Lopez in 2012. It will be Zeballos' fourth appearance and the team is 4-7 together, having made the semi-finals in 2020 and 2021.

Dominic Stricker has climbed two places to sixth in the Pepperstone ATP Live Race To Jeddah after enjoying an impressive run on home soil at the Swiss Indoors Basel.

The 21-year-old advanced to the quarter-finals at the ATP 500 event, defeating World No. 8 Casper Ruud in the second round to earn his second Top 10 win of the season. It was the first time this year that Stricker reached the last eight at a tour-level event. He also advanced to the fourth round at the US Open in September.

Stricker is aiming to make his second appearance at the Next Gen ATP Finals after reaching the semi-finals on debut last year.

Pepperstone ATP Live Race To Jeddah

Italian Flavio Cobolli is eighth in the Pepperstone ATP Live Race To Jeddah. The 21-year-old continued his impressive form at an ATP Challenger Tour event in Italy, where he reached the final. Cobolli won his first Challenger Tour crown of the year in Lisbon, Portugal at the start of October.

French tennis currently finds itself in an exciting position today, with the country having 13 players inside the Top 100 of the Pepperstone ATP Rankings. The second youngest is Luca Van Assche. The 19-year-old is currently seventh in the Pepperstone ATP Live Race To Jeddah and seeking a spot at the Next Gen ATP Finals.

The Frenchman has been on the rise in 2023, climbing from as low as No. 152 earlier this year to a career-high No. 63. Van Assche is quick to acknowledge the role those who came before him have played in his development, singling out Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and Gael Monfils.

“When I was young I watched the French players a lot, especially during Roland Garros as it was on TV,” Van Assche told ATPTour.com. “When I left school I went home and watched Roland Garros on TV. We had a lot of good players so it was incredible to see them and I wanted to be like them, so I started trying to be a professional player.

“I watched a lot of good matches. I remember when Tsonga beat Roger Federer [at Roland Garros in 2013] and at the Davis Cup when Monfils won a lot of matches and when they won the Davis Cup in 2017. To see a lot of French players at the top of the rankings inspires you to continue what they have done.”

After watching France’s biggest stars from the stands, Van Assche has since had the opportunity to rub shoulders with them. The 19-year-old has hit with Richard Gasquet and Gilles Simon, soaking up advice from both.

With just two weeks to go, the battle for the final three qualification spots at the Nitto ATP Finals continued to heat up at ATP 500 events in Vienna and Basel, where Jannik Sinner and Felix Auger-Aliassime triumphed.

ATPTour.com looks at the key movers as of Monday, 30 October in the Pepperstone ATP Live Race To Turin.

[ATP APP]

Ninth (3,075 points) – Hubert Hurkacz
The Pole climbed two spots to ninth in the Pepperstone ATP Live Race To Turin after he reached the title match at the Swiss Indoors Basel. The 26-year-old earned three-set victories against Tallon Griekspoor and Ugo Humbert before losing against Auger-Aliassime in the title match. Hurkacz, who is aiming to make his second appearance at the Nitto ATP Finals, heads to Paris 215 points behind eighth-placed Holger Rune, who occupies the final qualification spot.

Sixth (3,885 points) – Stefanos Tsitsipas
The Greek consolidated his sixth-placed position after reaching the semi-finals at the Erste Bank Open in Vienna. Tsitsipas overcame Dominic Thiem before falling to Daniil Medvedev in the last four. The 25-year-old is 810 points clear of ninth-placed Hurkacz and can stamp his ticket for the Nitto ATP Finals at the Rolex Paris Masters this week. Tsitsipas has competed at the prestigious year-end for the past four years, winning the title in 2019.