Djokovic loses to Hijikata in Paris, misses ATP Finals hopes

Novak Djokovic’s bid to reach the ATP Finals in Turin ended in the second round of the Paris Masters on Wednesday, when the 24-time Grand Slam champion lost 6-2, 3-6, 3-6 to Australia’s Rinky Hijikata, the world No. 83, Eurosport reported. The defeat means the 39-year-old Serbian will miss the season-ending championship for the third straight year — and the first time since 2017 that he has failed to qualify on sporting grounds.

Djokovic had needed at least a final appearance in Paris to overtake Alex de Minaur at No. 9 in the race standings, a spot that would have been enough this year because Jannik Sinner is injured and unable to defend his points, Blick reported. Instead, the loss in Paris-Bercy leaves him at No. 11 and guarantees he will drop at least one further place in the rankings.

The match that slipped away after a dominant opening set

Djokovic took the first set 6-2, breaking Hijikata twice and barely conceding on his own serve. The match then turned: Hijikata broke to lead 5-3 in the second set and closed it 6-3 to force a decider, Eurosport reported. In the third set, Djokovic held a 2-1 lead and had another chance to regain control, but he squandered three break points. At 3-3, Hijikata broke serve and never looked back, sealing what he called the biggest win of his career. The match lasted 2 hours and 16 minutes, according to sport.ORF.at.

“Of course I’m disappointed to lose a match that I think I dominated for a set and a few games,” he said, according to ORF. “Then he was suddenly fully there. My serve let me down in the second set. He played outstanding, honestly. He made hardly any errors and kept the balls flat. It was a great performance.”

The neck injury behind Hijikata’s career win

The 25-year-old Australian was not even sure he would be able to play. “I strained my neck yesterday,” Hijikata said, Eurosport reported. “I just wanted to last as long as possible. Then the adrenaline kicked in and that helped me.”

Hijikata’s victory was his first over a top-10 opponent and, by his own account, the finest result of his career. Djokovic, meanwhile, had needed only one more deep run in Paris: he had beaten Valentin Vacherot of Monaco in three sets in the opening round, but had already lost in the round of 16 in Basel the previous week to Germany’s Jan-Lennard Struff.

Third straight year without Turin — but the first on merit since 2017

The Paris exit marks Djokovic’s third absence from the ATP Finals, though the circumstances differ. In 2024 and 2025 he qualified but chose not to play; in 2017 he missed the event because of an elbow injury that ended his season in mid-July. Before that, his last absence had been in 2006. Djokovic is a record seven-time champion of the event, which begins Nov. 15 in Turin and features the top eight players in the standings.

The season had offered Djokovic genuine highs: a final at the Australian Open and his first title of the year at the Beijing tournament in early October.

Paris also stung for world No. 1 Zverev

The upset was not the only headline loss of the day. Alexander Zverev, playing his first match as the new world No. 1, lost 6-7 (5-7), 2-6 to Italy’s Lorenzo Musetti, Blick reported. Zverev led 4-1 with two mini-breaks in the first-set tiebreak but lost three of the next four points on serve to drop the opener, then was broken twice in the second set. He remains No. 1 through the end of the year, but the up to 950 ranking points on offer in Paris will be missing when Sinner returns next season.

Carlos Alcaraz, already qualified for Turin, had little trouble, beating American Alex Michelsen 7-6 (7-4), 6-3 to set up a third-round meeting with former Wimbledon finalist Matteo Berrettini, Eurosport reported.

What remains unanswered after the Paris exit

With the Finals door closed, Djokovic sits at No. 11 now and will fall at least one more spot after Paris. What is settled is the historical marker — a player with seven ATP Finals titles watching from home for the first time on sporting grounds in nearly two decades.

More on this story: Rinky Hijikata Defeats Novak Djokovic at Paris Masters · Novak Djokovic beats Valentin Vacherot to keep ATP Finals hopes alive

More on ATP Finals: Novak Djokovic Faces ATP Finals Omission After Basel Exit · Novak Djokovic falls to Jan-Lennard Struff in Turin ATP Finals bid · Novak Djokovic pursues 2026 ATP Finals qualification in Turin