“I think the message is: Let’s make the most of it. Let’s make the most of Novak, because if it’s not his last appearance here, it’s maybe his second-to-last,” Pioline said ahead of the tournament, suggesting Djokovic’s career could have another year left.

“Our record holder, seven wins at the Rolex Paris Masters, and, no need to say it, 24 Grand Slam wins.”

Only the top eight seeds in Paris receive byes directly into round two, and as the No. 10 seed, Djokovic will have to begin his campaign in the first round on Tuesday. Vacherot was always going to be a tough prospect – he beat Djokovic on his way to winning the Shanghai Masters as a qualifier ranked down at No. 204 last year – but he now comes in full of confidence after being crowned the Basel champion on Sunday.

And Pioline added: “There’s never an easy round, but probably a difficult one, since Vacherot himself, we saw that he was a bit injured this year, came back in good form, with a lot of desire to do well.

Djokovic has made it clear that he hopes to qualify for the ATP Finals in Turin. The eight players who have earned the most ranking points in a single season get a space at the year-end Finals, but with Jannik Sinner ending his 2026 season early, the ninth-place player will get in this year.

In order to keep his qualification hopes alive, the world No. 11 must reach at least the semi-finals in Paris this week, but his fate also depends on other players’ results. This week is the last chance for players to book their spot in the ATP Finals.

It meant players on the cusp of getting in would compete elsewhere for the last spots, and potentially pull out of that tournament once they qualified, or would arrive in Turin feeling fatigued.

But the Paris Masters is the last tournament week that counts in the race this year, and Pioline said: “There’s a lot of nervousness, a lot at stake and a lot of desire for these players to finish in the top eight.”