Novak Djokovic battles past Maxime Cressy to begin Paris Masters title defence with victory

Novak Djokovic’s quest for a record-extending seventh Paris Masters title got off to a strong start with a 7-6 (1) 6-4 win over Maxime Cressy.

Djokovic dominated the tie-break after a hard-fought opening set in which neither player’s serve was broken.

The former world No.1 then seized the only break of the match at the opportune moment to go 5-4 up in the second, before serving out with ease in a match in which he won 48 of his 54 points on serve.

The Serbian, seeded sixth in Paris this year, will face Marc-Andrea Huesler or Karen Khachanov next in his bid to win the 39th ATP Masters 1000 crown of his illustrious career.

Djokovic’s victory was his 10th on the ATP Tour in a row, continuing a strong end to the season after victories in Tel Aviv and Astana in October.

Paris-born Cressy, facing the 21-time Grand Slam winner for the first time, put up a spirited fight during one hour, 42 minutes on Court Central.

The 25-year-old produced 36 winners to Djokovic’s 19, but errors plagued his game as he ended with 22 unforced errors to his opponent’s five, and 10 double faults.

The American produced three aces and three double faults in an unpredictable opening service game, but both players remained strong on serve thereafter, until Djokovic was 4-3 up.

Cressy then coughed up the first break points of the match – handing Djokovic three opportunities for it – only to save each one thanks to some powerful serving.

That was as close as either player got to a breakthrough before the tiebreak, where Djokovic showed his champion class with a devastating performance.

A fifth double fault of the match from Cressy gave Djokovic an early opening and he took full advantage, winning all his points on serve and bounding across the court to flick a forehand winner past the American at the net to make it 5-1 at the change of ends.

Cressy’s unpredictable serving continued with another double fault that left him muttering in frustration, before Djokovic saw out a comprehensive tiebreak victory with an ace to take the opening set in exactly one hour.

Djokovic earned a break point in the opening game of the second set, but a well-executed serve and volley – not for the first time – helped Cressy recover to hold.

Proceedings soon returned to the previous pattern, with both players giving little away on serve, particularly Djokovic, who didn’t concede a single break point throughout the match.

Djokovic pumped his fists to a roaring crowd after winning a thrilling rally to go 30-15 up on Cressy’s serve at 4-4.

Yet another double fault from the American handed the Serbian two more break points and this time he made no mistake, dispatching a forehand to break Cressy’s serve for the first time and give himself the chance to serve for the match.

There was only one sign of nerves from the 35-year-old, a double fault at 30-15, but he responded with an ace to set up two match points – and only needed one to take the victory.