Paris Masters 2023: 3 favorites to win the men's singles title ft. Novak Djokovic

The ATP tour will head to the French capital for the season's final Masters tournament, the Paris Masters. The week-long event will kick off on October 30 and conclude with the final on November 5.

With 1000 points up for grabs, the tournament is an important one for the players who're still duking it out for an ATP Finals spot. Novak Djokovic, Carlos Alcaraz, Daniil Medvedev and Jannik Sinner qualified some time ago. Andrey Rublev recently joined the field with his performance in Vienna.

Now, six players are fighting it out for the remaining three spots. Stefanos Tsitsipas, Alexander Zverev, Holger Rune, Taylor Fritz, Hubert Hurkacz and Casper Ruud are the contenders.

Except for Ruud, each of the other five have won a Masters title in the past. Alcaraz is another player to watch out for, but is returning from an injury break and could be a little rusty.

As such, a trio of other players are the real frontrunners for the title.

Here's a look at the leading title contenders for the Paris Masters:

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#3 Jannik Sinner

Jannik Sinner at the 2023 China Open.

Sinner finally took his game to the next level this season. The young Italian reached his maiden Major semifinal at Wimbledon, but was shown the door by Djokovic. He then captured his first Masters title at the Canadian Open following a couple of runner-up finishes at the level.

Sinner recently won the China Open as well, which pushed him to achieve a new career-high ranking of No. 4. The 22-year-old then lost to Ben Shelton in the fourth round of the Shanghai Masters. He's now in the quarterfinals of the Erste Bank Open in Vienna, where he'll face Frances Tiafoe on Friday.

Despite Sinner's poor record at the Paris Masters, he's yet to win a match here, but arrives this year as one of the favorites to win the title. He's one of the most in-form players at the moment and with the newfound confidence in his game, he could certainly turn his fortunes around in the City of Love.

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#2 Daniil Medvedev

Daniil Medvedev won the Paris Masters back in 2020.

Medvedev cemented his position as a beast on hardcourts with his 19-match winning streak on the surface earlier in the season. Four of his five titles this season were on hardcourts as he triumphed in Rotterdam, Doha, Dubai and Miami.

Medvedev also finished as the runner-up at the Indian Wells Masters and the US Open, going down to Alcaraz and Djokovic respectively. More recently, he reached the final of the China Open, but suffered his first-ever defeat to Sinner.

Following a third-round exit from the Shanghai Masters, Medvedev headed to Vienna to defend his title. He's currently in the quarterfinals and will take on Karen Khachanov on Friday for a spot in the last four.

Medvedev won the Paris Masters in 2020 and almost defended his title the next year too, but was bested by Djokovic in the final. He fell in the second round here last year, but the Russian has performed well all season long and could make a deep run here this time around.

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#1 Novak Djokovic

Novak Djokovic is a six-time champion at the Paris Masters.

It's certainly no surprise to see Djokovic being the overwhelming favorite to expand his ever-increasing trophy haul. He has previously triumped at the Paris Masters on six occasions and finished as the runner-up twice, including last year.

Djokovic was favored to get the better of Rune in the final last year. However, the youngster was in the midst of a purple patch and edged out the Serb to capture the biggest title of his career.

Djokovic now arrives at the Paris Masters as the heavy favorite to take the title. He's currently on a 13-match winning streak, which started with his title winning run in Cincinnati and extended to the US Open and the Davis Cup. In fact, since the start of May, he has lost just twice.

Djokovic's first defeat in this time frame was against Rune, who ousted him in the quarterfinals of the Italian Open. His next loss was to Alcaraz, who outplayed him in the Wimbledon final.

Djokovic is gunning for his milestone 40th Masters title and is seeking to solidify his position to secure the year-end No. 1 ranking. With more records on the line, he's certainly going to play his best to rewrite history yet again.