Paris Masters Draw 2026 – Perfect Tennis

The draw for the 2026 Rolex Paris Masters is out, with Alexander Zverev and Carlos Alcaraz taking the top two seedings at the final Masters 1000 tournament of the season. It’s now up there with one of my favourite tournaments as it’s retained the traditional 1-week Masters 1000 format so it’s action pakced from the word go.

Zverev arrives in Paris set to become the new world No. 1, but his path is not straightforward. The German could open against Lorenzo Musetti or Hubert Hurkacz, with Novak Djokovic and Alex de Minaur both in his quarter.

Djokovic has arguably the toughest draw of the leading players. The seven-time champion faces Valentin Vacherot in the first round, with a potential meeting against De Minaur before he can even think about facing Zverev.

The out-of-form Ben Shelton and Frances Tiafoe lead the second quarter, alongside Tommy Paul and the returning Holger Rune.

The bottom half features plenty of players chasing the remaining ATP Finals places. Flavio Cobolli, Rafael Jódar and Daniil Medvedev are grouped together, while Alcaraz could meet Arthur Fils in the quarter-finals.

There are also plenty of interesting opening matches, including Tommy Paul against Holger Rune, Learner Tien against Stefanos Tsitsipas, and Lorenzo Musetti against Hubert Hurkacz.

Below, you’ll find the full draw, tournament information and my thoughts on each quarter.

Tournament Info

Rolex Paris Masters 2026 Seeds

The top eight seeds receive a bye into the second round.

Seeds

1. Alexander Zverev
2. Carlos Alcaraz
3. Ben Shelton
4. Daniil Medvedev
5. Flavio Cobolli
6. Arthur Fils
7. Frances Tiafoe
8. Alex de Minaur
9. Rafael Jódar
10. Novak Djokovic
11. Taylor Fritz
12. Tommy Paul
13. Alejandro Davidovich Fokina
14. Brandon Nakashima
15. Learner Tien
16. Francisco Cerúndolo

Wild Cards

Protected Ranking

Special Exempt

Withdrawals

Qualifiers

Seven places in the main draw will be filled following qualifying on 31 October and 1 November.

2026 Rolex Paris Masters Draw

Top Half

Bottom Half

PDF Draw

Thoughts on the Draw

First Quarter: Zverev Faces a Tough Route With Djokovic Lurking

Seeded Players: Alexander Zverev (1), Alex de Minaur (8), Novak Djokovic (10), Learner Tien (15)

Selected first-round matches:

Zverev is the top seed and will arrive in Paris as the new world No. 1, but his draw isn’t straightforward.

After a first-round bye, the German faces either Lorenzo Musetti or Hubert Hurkacz, which is heavy for an opening round.

Musetti comes into Paris having won the title in Lyon, while Hurkacz has enjoyed a strong Asian swing.

On an indoor court, the Pole’s serve alone can make life awkward for anyone, and he won the doubles in Paris a couple of years back, alongside making the semis in 2021, albeit in Bercy.

Zverev has the advantage of an extra day’s rest with no first-round match (he’s still playing Vienna), but he won’t get much opportunity to ease himself into the tournament.

If he gets through that match, Learner Tien is his projected third-round opponent.

Tien first has to negotiate a tricky opener against Stefanos Tsitsipas, with Luca Van Assche or Mariano Navone awaiting in round two. The American has plenty to play for in the final weeks of the season.

The other side of this quarter is arguably even more interesting.

Novak Djokovic, seeded tenth, does not receive a first-round bye and immediately faces Valentin Vacherot.

That is a dangerous opponent for the Serbian, given Vacherot defeated him during his crazy run to the Shanghai Masters title last year.

Vacherot has also been playing pretty well recently, and his physicality is right up there, so this is certainly not the sort of first round Djokovic would have wanted.

Should Djokovic come through, he faces Luciano Darderi or a qualifier before potentially meeting Alex de Minaur in the third round.

De Minaur himself has a bye and opens against either Andrey Rublev or Tomás Martín Etcheverry, both potentially difficult second-round matches, but I really don’t know what to expect from Rublev these days as he’s lost in the first round at his last three tournaments.

Djokovic and De Minaur are both chasing places at the ATP Finals, which adds another layer. I always fancy Djoker in that matchup after the demolition job he performed in Australia when De Minaur questioned his vaccine stance, but the gap has closed since then with Nole’s physical woes.

Zverev against De Minaur is the quarter-final suggested by the seedings, although Djokovic can clearly disrupt that given his record in Paris.

I’d still make Zverev the slight favourite to come through this quarter, assuming Vienna doesn’t put too many extra miles in the legs, but his opening match is awkward enough that I wouldn’t be surprised if we see a few upsets.

Second Quarter: Shelton and Tiafoe Lead a Competitive American Section

Seeded Players: Ben Shelton (3), Frances Tiafoe (7), Tommy Paul (12), Francisco Cerúndolo (16)

Selected first-round matches:

Shelton is the highest seed in the second quarter, but there’s plenty of competition here, particularly from his fellow Americans.

The third seed has a first-round bye before facing either Cameron Norrie or Matteo Arnaldi. He should win against either, but Norrie has already shown he can be dangerous in Paris, having beaten Carlos Alcaraz at this tournament last year, so he’s more than capable of forcing a three-set tiebreak match, which Shelton always seems to be involved in.

If Shelton progresses, Francisco Cerúndolo is his projected third-round opponent, although the Argentine faces a difficult first-round match against Arthur Rinderknech.

Rinderknech will have home support and an aggressive game that can cause problems indoors.

Two qualifiers are also in this section, so there’s scope for an unexpected player to make a run.

In the bottom part of the quarter, Tommy Paul faces Holger Rune in the first round, with the Dane using a protected ranking as he continues his comeback from injury.

Rune won this tournament in 2022, beating Djokovic in the final, but although it is still early days, he has struggled to find his best level since returning to competition.

Paul hasn’t been particularly convincing in recent weeks, so this match feels fairly open, and Rune did bag a win against Hurkacz in Basel/

The winner meets Daniel Mérida or Alexander Blockx before a potential third-round encounter with Frances Tiafoe.

Tiafoe has a bye and begins against either Quentin Halys or Arthur Fery.

Fery comes into Paris after a decent run in Vienna, where he reached the quarter-finals before losing to Zverev.

Halys has the home advantage, but I wouldn’t be surprised if Fery caused him problems, particularly if he can reproduce the level he showed in Austria.

Tiafoe remains firmly in the ATP Finals conversation, while Paul is trying to close the gap on the players ahead of him.

Shelton vs Tiafoe is the projected quarter-final, but I don’t see either of them making it.

Third Quarter: Medvedev and Cobolli Head a Wide-Open Section

Seeded Players: Daniil Medvedev (4), Flavio Cobolli (5), Rafael Jódar (9), Alejandro Davidovich Fokina (13)

Selected first-round matches:

This looks like one of the most open quarters in the draw, with several players capable of reaching the semi-finals.

Flavio Cobolli is the highest seed in the top section and has a first-round bye before facing either Jan-Lennard Struff or French wild card Arthur Géa.

Struff is an awkward opponent on an indoor hard court, as he showed in Basel by defeating Djokovic, and for my money, in this era of blandness that dominates the tour, he’s one of the few players who are fun to watch.

Géa will have the crowd behind him and has made significant progress this season, so I think he’ll probably come through, given the short turnaround time Struff faces as he’s still in the Swiss Indoors draw.

Rafael Jódar is Cobolli’s projected third-round opponent, although the Spaniard must get through Alejandro Tabilo first.

Jódar has enjoyed an excellent season and is also chasing a place at the ATP Finals, so he’ll be keen to pick up as many points as possible.

Tabilo is unpredictable, but Jódar defeated him handily last week in Basel, so I’d expect him to meet Ruud in round 2.

The bottom half of the quarter is led by Daniil Medvedev, who won this tournament in 2020. He has a bye before facing Ignacio Buse or Zizou Bergs.

Meddy’s projected third-round opponent is Alejandro Davidovich Fokina, who faces French wild card Moïse Kouamé in the opening round.

Kouamé is making his Paris Masters debut and has been handed a difficult introduction to Masters 1000 tennis.

Davidovich Fokina can beat almost anyone on his day, and after Shanghai

Denis Shapovalov and Karen Khachanov also meet in this section, with the winner facing Davidovich Fokina or Kouamé.

Khachanov won the Paris Masters in 2018 and is always dangerous on indoor hard courts, so he could easily become a factor.

Medvedev against Cobolli is the projected quarter-final, and I think Daniil will come through.

Fourth Quarter: Alcaraz Leads the Way, but Fils and Fritz Could Threaten

Seeded Players: Carlos Alcaraz (2), Arthur Fils (6), Taylor Fritz (11), Brandon Nakashima (14)

Selected first-round matches:

Alcaraz leads the bottom quarter and will be looking for a better result than last year, when he lost to Cameron Norrie in his opening match.

The second seed has a first-round bye but could face a difficult second-round opponent in either Alex Michelsen or Jiří Lehečka.

Lehečka has heavy groundstrokes to make life uncomfortable on an indoor court, although Alcaraz defeated him in the Tokyo final earlier this season and leads the H2H 4-1.

Michelsen is another player who can take the racket out of an opponent’s hands when serving well, so neither is an ideal opening opponent.

Assuming Alcaraz progresses, Brandon Nakashima is the seed he could meet in the third round.

However, Nakashima has a difficult first-round assignment against Matteo Berrettini. Berrettini has the serve-and-forehand combination to trouble almost anyone, but it’s been a while since he really delivered.

The winner of that match meets Ugo Humbert or Botic van de Zandschulp, which means this section is packed with players who can make life awkward for Alcaraz.

Humbert has a track record of putting on a run in front of the French crowd, and he’s always played well indoors, winning Metz, Marseille, and Antwerp in his career, and also losing the 2024 Paris Final to Zverev.

The other side of this quarter features Arthur Fils and Taylor Fritz.

Fils has a first-round bye and opens against either French wild card Kyrian Jacquet or a qualifier.

That looks like a reasonable opening match on paper, although, as usual, there are concerns about his fitness after he retired against Fritz in Basel with a leg problem.

Taylor Fritz is his projected third-round opponent, although the American has to come through a qualifier and potentially Titouan Droguet or another qualifier.

Fritz should be fairly happy with that section of the draw.

Alcaraz against Fils is the projected quarter-final, but Fritz could well have something to say about that; I’d still make Alcaraz the favourite to reach the semi-finals from this quarter.

First-Round Matches to Watch

Novak Djokovic vs Valentin Vacherot: Arguably the standout first-round match. Vacherot beat Djokovic on his way to winning Shanghai last year, and the Serbian cannot afford an early exit if he wants to qualify for the ATP Finals.

Lorenzo Musetti vs Hubert Hurkacz: A tough opening match for both players. Musetti arrives after his Lyon title, while Hurkacz’s serve could be particularly effective indoors. Zverev awaits the winner.

Tommy Paul (12) vs Holger Rune (PR): A difficult opener for Paul against the 2022 champion. Rune is still trying to rediscover his best tennis following his Achilles rupture.

Learner Tien (15) vs Stefanos Tsitsipas: An interesting clash between a rock-solid young American and an established player trying to regain his form. The winner could eventually meet Zverev in the third round.

Brandon Nakashima (14) vs Matteo Berrettini: Nakashima has the ranking advantage, but Berrettini is the sort of unseeded opponent nobody wants to face on a quick hard court.

Quentin Halys vs Arthur Fery: A good opportunity for Fery to build on his Vienna quarter-final, although Halys will have home support. Frances Tiafoe awaits the winner.

Who do you think wins the 2026 Paris Masters? Can Djokovic find a way through his difficult draw, or will Zverev and Alcaraz meet in the final? Let me know in the comments.