40 Years of Rolex Paris Masters – Episode #4: A stage for champions and first-time winners (2016 – 2025)
The fourth and final chapter of our Rolex Paris Masters anniversary series, celebrating the tournament’s 40th anniversary this year. Perhaps the most prestigious decade of all in terms of its list of champions, the period from 2016 to 2025 firmly established Novak Djokovic as the king of Paris, while also producing its fair share of spectacular surprises. It ended with a historic move that brought down the curtain on an important chapter in the tournament’s history.
The defining champion: Novak Djokovic
The fourth decade of the Rolex Paris Masters is, above all, a story of conquests... and reconquests. And some symbols speak for themselves. The period began with a changing of the guard. In 2016, it was in Paris that Andy Murray officially secured the world No.1 ranking at the end of a relentless finish to the season, highlighted by his maiden Paris title after a final victory over John Isner (6-3, 6-7(4), 6-4). In truth, the Briton already knew his fate the day before, as simply reaching the final was enough to take him to the top. Novak Djokovic’s quarter-final defeat to Marin Cilic had cleared the way.
The record holder for the most titles in Paris since 2015, Djokovic suddenly found himself a dethroned king after two and a half uninterrupted years at the summit of world tennis. And it would take time for him to reclaim his Paris throne. Injured and absent in 2017, as was defending champion Andy Murray, he watched from afar as the tournament produced perhaps the most unexpected final in its history. World No.22 Jack Sock captured his maiden Masters 1000 title by defeating qualifier and world No.77 Filip Krajinovic, 5-7, 6-4, 6-1.
A year later, in 2018, Djokovic suffered his first defeat in a Rolex Paris Masters final, losing to Karen Khachanov 7-5, 6-4. It briefly felt like another palace revolution. But the rightful ruler would ultimately reclaim his Parisian kingdom. Djokovic lifted the trophy three more times: in 2019 against Denis Shapovalov (6-3, 6-4), in 2021 after a heavyweight battle with Daniil Medvedev (4-6, 6-4, 6-3), and again in 2023 against Grigor Dimitrov (6-4, 6-3). Those victories took his record tally in Paris to seven titles. No other Masters 1000 event has brought him as much success. With one more crown than his six in Rome, Paris stands alone as the most successful Masters 1000 hunting ground of his legendary career.
Having featured in five of the ten finals played between 2016 and 2025, winning three of them, Djokovic naturally emerges once again as the defining champion of the decade. Even another defeat in the final, in 2022, only added to his place in the tournament’s history. On that occasion, he was beaten at the end of a magnificent battle by 19-year-old Holger Rune (3-6, 6-3, 7-5). The young Dane captured his maiden Masters 1000 title after defeating five Top 10 players during a stunning run that propelled him into another dimension.
Alongside Jack Sock and Karen Khachanov, Rune was one of three players to claim their first Masters 1000 title in Paris during this decade, a remarkable feature of an increasingly star-studded era. The rest of the roll of honour features only world No.1s and/or Grand Slam champions. Daniil Medvedev, who defeated Alexander Zverev in the 2020 final (5-7, 6-4, 6-1), was followed by Zverev himself, who swept past Ugo Humbert in 2024 (6-2, 6-2), before Jannik Sinner completed the list by overcoming Félix Auger-Aliassime in 2025 (6-4, 7-6(4)).
With the exception of those inspired first-time winners, the decade’s roll of honour reads like a royal symphony. The 2025 edition also marked a major turning point in the history of the tournament, which moved from eastern to western Paris to take up residence at the Plenitude Arena. It was a move on a grand scale, bringing modernised facilities, increased capacity and even greater ambitions for an event that continues to grow in prestige.
Sinner’s victory in the first edition held in this new home carried a strong sense of symbolism. Four years after playing, and losing, the very first instalment of what would become his legendary rivalry with Carlos Alcaraz in Paris, Sinner finally conquered the capital himself.
It was a significant triumph and the prelude to an impressive run of Masters 1000 success that continued into 2026. Another conquest was beginning just as the Rolex Paris Masters itself was embarking on a new chapter.
Champions (2016–2025)
2016: Andy Murray (GBR) d. John Isner (USA) 6-3, 6-7(4), 6-4
2017: Jack Sock (USA) d. Filip Krajinovic (SRB) 5-7, 6-4, 6-1
2018: Karen Khachanov d. Novak Djokovic (SRB) 7-5, 6-4
2019: Novak Djokovic (SRB) d. Denis Shapovalov (CAN) 6-3, 6-4
2020: Daniil Medvedev d. Alexander Zverev (GER) 5-7, 6-4, 6-1
2021: Novak Djokovic (SRB) d. Daniil Medvedev 4-6, 6-4, 6-3
2022: Holger Rune (DEN) d. Novak Djokovic (SRB) 3-6, 6-3, 7-5
2023: Novak Djokovic (SRB) d. Grigor Dimitrov (BUL) 6-4, 6-3
2024: Alexander Zverev (GER) d. Ugo Humbert (FRA) 6-2, 6-2
2025: Jannik Sinner (ITA) d. Félix Auger-Aliassime (CAN) 6-4, 7-6(4)