Paris Masters 2026 preview: no Sinner, no Monfils, and the last places in Turin up for grabs

The Rolex Paris Masters, the last ATP Masters 1000 of 2026, runs from 2 to 8 November at the Plenitude Arena in Nanterre, the venue known as Paris La Défense Arena until this summer. Defending champion Jannik Sinner will not be there, and with the Race To Turin closing at the end of the week, the tournament doubles as the final qualifying event for the Nitto ATP Finals.

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A second year in La Défense

The tournament left Bercy for the western edge of Paris in 2025, and its home has since changed name: the energy company Plenitude took over the arena's naming rights on 1 July. Qualifying is played on Saturday 31 October and Sunday 1 November, the main draw starts on Monday 2 November, and the singles final is scheduled for 3pm on Sunday 8 November, according to the tournament's provisional schedule. The organisers are also marking the event's 40th anniversary.

Two big absences

Sinner won the title 12 months ago, beating Felix Auger-Aliassime 6-4 7-6(4) in the final without dropping a set all week, the ATP reported. He has not played since winning Wimbledon in July and announced on 6 October that his season was over because of a knee problem, so he will not defend those points.

The home crowd will also miss Gael Monfils. The Frenchman had hoped to end his career in Paris, but the International Tennis Integrity Agency now lists him as retired from 5 October. "He is now considered retired and is no longer allowed to participate in tournaments," ITIA spokesman Adrian Bassett said, as reported by Tennis Now.

Who is in the field

The entry list published by the tournament is led by Alexander Zverev, the 2024 champion, and Carlos Alcaraz, who has never gone past the quarter-finals in Paris. Novak Djokovic, a seven-time winner here, is also entered after winning Beijing, his 102nd career title. Ben Shelton, Daniil Medvedev, Taylor Fritz, Alex de Minaur and last year's runner-up Auger-Aliassime are on the list too, while 20-year-old Rafael Jodar makes his debut.

Holger Rune, champion in 2022, is the only player using a protected ranking after a long lay-off with a ruptured Achilles tendon. Arthur Fils, Ugo Humbert and Arthur Rinderknech lead the French contingent. Only three Frenchmen have won the title: Guy Forget, Sebastien Grosjean and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga.

The final week of the Race

Under the 2026 calendar, Paris is the last event to count for this year's PIF ATP Race To Turin, with results from the following week rolled into next season. Zverev and Alcaraz are already qualified, and Sinner's withdrawal means ninth place in the Race is effectively enough for the last ticket. With 1,000 points for the champion and about 700 points separating fifth from 11th in the standings before the indoor swing, a deep run in Paris can still change the field. Our ATP Finals race tracker has the latest numbers.

What it means

Paris rarely gets the full attention of the top players this late in the year, but 2026 is different. Zverev, already confirmed as the year-end No 1, can use the week to reach the top of the rankings for the first time, as the tournament itself points out, while Djokovic has said Paris is his only remaining event before Turin. For the players around the cut-off line, it is a straight shoot-out.