The ATP Paris or the Paris Masters tennis tournament gets underway with effect from 29 October at Paris, France with the commencement of the first round of the tournament. The tournament will continue till Sunday 4 November, when it will culminated with the men's single final event.
The tournament, presently played under the sponsorship of BNP Paribas, is an ATP 1000 indoor tennis tournament, which is the last major tennis tournament of the calendar year. The event which was once known as the Paris Open, is now known as the BNP Paribas Masters due to sponsorship by BNP Paribas.
The tournament was first held in 1968 as part of Grand Prix Championship Series and Milan Holeček from the erstwhile Czechoslovakia became the first men's singles title holder, beating Robert Carmichael from Australia.
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| Three times PAris Master champions: Boris Becker of Germany (left) and Marat Safin of Russia (right) |
Boris Becker of Germany (1986, 1989, 1992) and Marat Safin of Russia (2000, 2002, 2004) have won the most titles, that is three each, and top the table position of the most singles winners.
Aisam ul Haq Qureshi of Pakistan (left) and Rohan Bopanna of India (right) won the men's double title of Paris Masters 2011 [Photo: AP/Express Tribune]
In the doubles category, Jacco Eltingh and Paul Haarhuis and John Fitzgerald have won the title three times each. The 2011 doubles title was won by the pair Aisam ul Haq Qureshi of Pakistan Rohan Bopanna of India by defeating the French pair Julien Benneteau and Nicolas Mahut.
Federer with his 2011 Paris Masters trophy [Photo: ATP World Tour ]
Present world no.1 Swiss Roger Federer won the 2011 men's single title, but he is not defending his title this year. The decision was taken by Federer after he failed to win the ATP Basel for the sixth time and lost to Del Potro in the finals.
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| Major players participating in Paris Masters 2012 [Photos: ATP World Tour ] |
With Nadal virtually out of the tennis world and not participating in the tournament, world no.2 Serbian Novak Djokovic and British Andy Murray in the absence of Federer are the two main contestants, eyeing Paris and ending the year 2012 with a great winning.
Other major players participating in the tournament are David Ferrer, Tomas Berdych, Jo Wilfried Tsonga, Juan Martin Del Potro and Richard Gasquet.
Djokovic and Murray both commence their play from Wednesday today onward in the second round of the tournament.
