Paris Masters 2018 Preview: Novak Djokovic looks the favourite to lift the title and clinch year-end No. 1 ranking

The 2018 ATP season is nearing an exciting end, with the last ATP Masters 1000 tournament of the season set to begin in Paris from October 29. After a long time, it is exciting to have the Big Three of tennis ready to battle in the same tournament.

Rafael Nadal is set to make his return from the injury that he suffered in the US Open. And Roger Federer is entering this tournament after skipping it for the last two years, though there is a slight possibility that if he manages to win the Swiss Indoors at Basel, he may decide to skip Paris once again.

But the most important story that is going to play out in Paris is the race for the World Number 1 spot. Currently, Nadal is the World Number 1, where he has been perched since 25 June, 2018. When Nadal snatched the number 1 spot from Federer, it seemed like he would hold it for the foreseeable future, with Federer’s dip in form and Novak Djokovic struggling to get back to his best after coming back from injury.

Nadal's search for an elusive Paris Masters 1000 title set to resume

All that seems to have changed in the last few months, with the Serbian winning the last two Grand Slams at Wimbledon and New York and the Masters events in Cincinnati and Shanghai. He is now just 215 points behind Nadal in the race for number 1.

Paris Masters happens to be one of Djokovic’s happy hunting grounds. He is aiming for a fifth title here, which will not only help him get back to World Number 1 position after a gap of two years, but will also tie him with Nadal as the player with most Masters titles (33).

On the other hand, Paris Masters is one of only two Masters events that Nadal has not won so far, the other being the Miami Open. The indoor hard court is Nadal’s least favourite surface. Last year, even when he was in top form around this time of the season, he could only reach the pre-quarter final stage.

But you can never count Nadal out. With the World Number 1 position at stake and the prospect of adding an elusive Masters 1000 title to his kitty, Rafa may be more determined than ever to do well in Paris this time.

To do that, Nadal will have to be at his absolute best. Because he may run into Fernando Verdasco in his opening round, who has posed him a lot of difficulty in the past, most notably in that epic Australian Open semi final of 2009. If he progresses further, he will run into either Dominic Thiem or Borna Coric in the quarter-final stage. Alexander Zverev is his possible semi-final opponent.

Djokovic is set to begin his tournament with a chance to beat Marco Cecchinato again, having done so in Shanghai. He will get an opportunity at revenge in the next round when he faces Stefanos Tsitsipas. But here he is expected to face some stiff challenge from the fast-improving Greek, who had shocked him at the Rogers Cup. On current form though, a repeat of the same result is quite unlikely.

If seeds hold good, his quarter-final opponent will be Marin Cilic before he meets Federer and Nadal in the semi-finals and final respectively. But none of those three are certain to reach that far.

Can Federer do the unthinkable and win the Paris Masters when it's least expected of him?

If Federer actually plays Paris Masters and does not withdraw at the last moment, then he will face the toughest opening round possible against the winner of the match between Raonic and Tsonga. Before he could entertain the thought of facing Novak in the semi-finals, he will have to go past the likes of Anderson and Fognini. It looks almost insurmountable for Roger, especially since he would be coming off straight from Basel Open.

All things considered, Novak Djokovic is the overwhelming favourite to win a fifth Paris Masters and dethrone Nadal from the World Number 1 position.