Tennis LIVE: Djokovic learns fate in new home as Sabalenka addresses behaviour

Jannik Sinner has insisted that he is not focused on surpassing Carlos Alcaraz at the top of the ATP rankings.

The young Italian can leapfrog his Spanish rival if he takes victory at the Paris Masters.

Speaking after his win over Ben Shelton, Sinner said: "Honestly, at the moment I’m not thinking about the ranking, it’s all a consequence of how I’m playing.

"We go day by day, every day you have very difficult challenges coming up, today was a very tough one, so I’m very happy to come through and whatever comes out comes out.

"At the end of the year, making the semis here in Paris means a lot. It’s been a very long season with some great results and I never take these results for granted.

"I’m happy to be in the situation I am and tomorrow is an important day, but I’m looking forward to it."

Roger Federer has named his picks for the five greatest players of all time, leaving himself off the list in a display of trademark humility.

He included long-term rivals Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic, as well as Pete Sampras and Boris Becker.

Federer's fifth choice raised eyebrows, though, with the Swiss icon saying: "I've got to go back to, you know, who inspired me.

"For me, I needed my GOAT people, who were on the wall at home and I wanted to be like them. And for me, that was Stefan Edberg, Swedish guy."

""He was super elegant. He was the coolest."

Defending champion Alexander Zverev is through to the semi-finals of the Paris Masters, saving two match points to beat Daniil Medvedev 2-6 6-3 7-6.

It’s the first time that Zverev has beaten Medvedev in more than two years. The Russian won their last five matches, including their recent Beijing quarter-final.

The world No. 3 collapsed to the ground in celebration after getting his first win over Medvedev since the 2023 Cincinnati Open.

Zverev now faces Jannik Sinner for a place in the championship match. It comes just six days after they met in the Vienna final, which saw Sinner come from behind to win 3-6 6-3 7-5.

Alexander Bublik is through to his maiden Masters 1000 semi-final in Paris. But he believes the hard courts inside the new venue, the La Defense Arena, are some of the slowest on tour.

"It's definitely slower than clay, in my opinion. Because on clay you have a higher bounce, especially the Paris clay, it has a higher bounce, and on clay the ball has more speed after it bounces. So after the bounce, it can generate the spin. You can move an opponent back with using a topspin," the No. 13 seed explained.

"Here is a bit different, but it's slower and you don't have this kind of a whip, I would say, after the ball lands. If you do a great topspin or a great kick serve, you don't have this whip that puts opponent back on their back foot. So that's the biggest difference.

"That's why the indoor hard, especially this one, is one of the slowest I have played, yes."

Alexander Zverev's Paris Masters title defence isn't over just yet.

The world No. 3 lost the first set in under half an hour and then sparked concerns when he fell on court at the start of the second set. But he's just taken it 6-3 to force a decider.

Medvedev became frustrated as the set went on. But he's left the court for a quick bathroom break. Will he regroup to win in three, or will Zverev advance to the semis?

Alexander Zverev sparked concern when he fell on the court int he first game of the second set.

The world No. 3 slid into the corner of the court to reach a ball and his foot jarred up. He went down in pain, and Daniil Medvedev rushed over to help him.

The umpire asked Zverev if he wanted the physio to come to the court but he declined and played on. Medvedev held to lead 1-0 after taking the first set 6-2.

Coco Gauff has suggested that it's more interesting for tennis fans to see a variety of players win Grand Slam titles.

There have been four different Major winners on the women's side this year. In comparison, on the men's circuit, Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner have split the last eight Slams between them.

“Carlos and Jannik are being great. There’s talk about there needing to be a third person to make it more interesting,” the American said.

“I think it’s better to have different champions than the same two. I’m thinking long-term it’s more exciting for me as a fan watching the semis and quarters not knowing who is going to win.”

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Jannik Sinner is now two wins away from overtaking Carlos Alcaraz and returning to No. 1 in the world. The Italian will get back to the top of the rankings if he wins the Paris Masters - but he's not thinking about it.

"Honestly, at the moment, I’m not thinking about the ranking. It’s all a consequence of how I’m playing," Sinner said.

"We go day by day. Every day, you have very difficult challenges coming up. Today was a very tough one, so I’m very happy to come through.

"Whatever comes out, comes out. At the end of the year, making semis here in Paris, it means a lot. It has been a very long season with great, great results, and I never take these results for granted. I’m happy to be in the situation where I am.

"As I said, tomorrow is a very important day and I’m looking forward to it. The crowd here is amazing. They push us, it doesn’t matter who is playing, to the limit."

Well, scrap that. Jannik Sinner let his frustrations out, and then locked back in.

Ben Shelton hit a double fault to get broken again, allowing the Italian to serve for a spot in the semi-finals. And he did just that, sealing a 6-3 6-3 victory to reach the last four in Paris.

It's the first time in his career that he's made it to the semis here. He'll face either Daniil Medvedev or Alexander Zverev tomorrow.

Madison Keys is making her second appearance at the WTA Finals, nine years after the first. The American lifted a long-awaited first Grand Slam title at the Australian Open at the start of the season, and she says it’s “never too late” to return to the season-ending championships.

The world No. 7 said: “It's never too late for anything. I don't think I would have believed that there would be a nine-year gap in the middle of it, but I'm playing some of my best tennis of my career.

“Sometimes as you start getting older, you start feeling like you're running out of time. It's been a little bit of a perspective change for me, where it's like, there's always time.”

Alexander Bublik has broken new ground again in 2025. The Kazakh is through to his maiden Masters 1000 semi-final after coming from behind to beat Alex de Minaur 6-7(5) 6-4 7-5.

The world No. 16 looked emotional as he booked his spot in the last four, and he wished De Minaur good luck for the upcoming ATP Finals in Turin during a friendly handshake.

Bublik could well join him at the year-end championships, as he keeps himself alive in the race to Turin with his latest victory.

Breakthrough star Valentin Vacherot's incredible run at Masters 1000 level came to an end on Friday as he lost to Felix Auger-Aliassime in the Paris quarter-finals.

The Monegasque star shot up from No. 204 in the world into the top 40 when he won the Shanghai Masters as a qualifier earlier this month. And his 2025 season may not be over just yet.

"For now, I'm just going to enjoy my streak. We'll see what I do next week," Vacherot said after his 6-2 6-2 loss.

"I don't know yet officially if I received a wildcard for Metz. It depends on this. And then how I feel, I don't know yet what I'm going to do next week."

Iga Swiatek has admitted that she had a tough start to the year - but her Wimbledon triumph means it's still been a successful season.

Ahead of the WTA Finals, the world No. 2 explained: "Obviously, I had many ups and downs, the first part of the season was very difficult for me. It’s true that I reached many semi-finals, but I didn’t win any titles.

"On the other hand, I won Wimbledon, which for me is twice as important as winning any other tournament, so I consider this season to have been a success, even though there’s still one tournament left."

Valentin Vacherot's amazing winning streak at Masters 1000 level has officially come to an end. The Monegasque star won 10 main draw matches at Masters events in a row - claiming the Shanghai Masters crown, and then reaching the quarter-finals in Paris. He also won two qualifying matches in Shanghai.

But the world No. 40's run is now over, as he suffered a 6-2 6-2 defeat to a red-hot Felix Auger-Aliassime at the Paris Masters on Friday.

Vacherot is still set to rise up to around No. 30 in the world when the rankings update on Monday, and should be seeded for the Australian Open.

As for Auger-Aliassime, the Canadian keeps his hopes of qualifying for the ATP Finals alivw.

Aryna Sabalenka is ending her 2025 season at the WTA Finals. It's been a topsy-turvy year for the world No. 1 who had plenty of highs, but some low lows, including two Grand Slam final losses.

The Belarusian star has now admitted that she learned the hard way that "screaming and throwing rackets" didn't help her during matches.

She explained: "I think the main lesson that I learned is that no matter what, doesn't matter how I feel, how frustrated I am inside, I still have to try to stay calm and try to think clear, just try to focus on the plan that I have for the match. No matter what, stay in control.

"Obviously, if we look my first two finals, yeah, screaming, yelling, throwing the racket doesn't really help me to win the match. Sometimes, of course, you need to let the emotions go. When you just lose control completely, it's not going to help you. I think that was my main lesson, no matter what, stay in control."

Alexander Bublik has taken yet another shot at Corentin Moutet following their spat at the Paris Masters.

Bringing up the Frenchman's previous comments again, Bublik said: "I never speak like that before a match, nor do I disrespect any opponent.

"I might do it during the match if they're behaving badly towards me or acting strangely; I'm not afraid to say what I think.

"When I heard about his comments, I didn't understand why he did it, why he put himself in that position, especially when you could lose in front of your home crowd. He put extra pressure on himself.

"And then I asked him at the net if he wanted to continue with this game, and he didn't answer me."

Alex de Minaur did not realise he had qualified for the ATP Finals until he was informed during an interview with Tennis Channel.

The Aussie booked his place at the year-end tournament following his victory over Karen Khachanov at the Paris Masters.

Reflecting on the surprise news, he said: "I had no idea. I mean, it was the best news I’ve got in a long, long time.

"Of course, there’s so much chatter the last three or four weeks of the year, that’s what everyone’s talking about.

"So there’s a lot of stress, and I did my best not to pay attention as much as I could. But yeah, I had no idea that securing that win was enough.

"So yeah, it was a lot of relief, and I’m very, very happy with that."

Alexander Bublik rebuked a reporter for drawing comparisons between himself and Carlos Alcaraz.

During an interview with Tennis Channel, the reporter suggested that Bublik's shots were quite similar to those of the Spaniard.

He responded: "First of all, you cannot compare me to Carlos in any matter. Let's put it like this, I don't disrespect Carlos, okay?

"I like Carlos since he was 16 years old, playing on a side court in Australia. Don't disrespect him that way.

"No, obviously, I became better in choosing my shots. Yes, because otherwise I would not be winning matches that often and keep consistency throughout, you know, it's the end of the season.

"I hope to continue this way."

Jannik Sinner has admitted that he will not be operating at full capacity when he faces Ben Shelton at the Paris Masters.

He showed signs of discomfort during his victory over Francisco Cerundolo and said afterwards that he was dealing with an issue.

"I'm trying to manage it as best I can, but it's clear I'm not at 100 per cent," he said.

"We'll see. I feel like today's match was less physical, which is good for me. I'm happy to have won it in two sets, in under an hour and a half. I'm going to sleep very well tonight."

Carlos Alcaraz has been told his attitude and body language left a lot to be desired during his Paris Masters exit.

The young Spaniard was seen arguing with his coach between sets as the Spaniard was beaten by Cameron Norrie.

French journalist Benoit Maylin said: "I didn’t like his attitude. I didn’t like his body language, getting angry, telling himself he couldn’t do it.

"You have to be able to win when you’re playing badly, as your illustrious predecessors did.

“Nadal, Djokovic and Federer didn’t always play their best tennis, but they managed to win because they fought with humility.

“Rafa would never have had such an attitude on the court. He needs to be careful not to let a little ego take hold."

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