Djokovic overcomes scare late in 2nd set to beat Vacherot in Paris Masters 1st round
The Manila Times · 11/4/2026, 5:03:30 PM Philippine time
Excerpt from The Manila Times. Read the original report below for the complete story.PARIS, France — Record seven-time champion Novak Djokovic overcame a scare late in the second set to beat big-serving Valentin Vacherot 6-7 (5), 7-5, 6-1 in the first round of the Paris Masters on Tuesday.The men's record 24-time Grand Slam winner is chasing a 103rd career title, which would move him level in second place with Roger Federer. Jimmy Connors leads in the Open era on 109.But the 10th-seeded Serb could have gone out early in Paris.Serving at 4-4 in the second set, he needed to save three break points to prevent Vacherot — who won the Swiss Indoors on Sunday and beat Djokovic in the Shanghai Masters semifinals last year — from serving for the match at the indoor tournament.“His second serves are faster than my first serves, so it's very tough to play a guy in these conditions, which are really, really fast," Djokovic said. “Last year was very slow, this year is like ice.”Djokovic was bamboozled by…