Novak Djokovic appeared to be on the brink of missing out in his final attempt to qualify for the ATP Finals in Turin later this month as he trailed Valentine Vacherot in his opening match at the Paris Masters, but the final twist on day two of the event in the French capital opened the door for the Serbian legend.

With Djokovic needing a run to the latter stages of the final Masters 1000 tournament of 2026 to keep his hopes of qualifying for the end-of-season finale alive, he looked to be in real trouble as he dropped the opening set against Vacherot and appeared to be struggling with a long-running shoulder problem.

A stunning comeback for seven-time Paris Masters champion Djokovic saw him overcome in-form Vacherot, as he beat the player who won last weekend’s ATP 500 tournament in Basel.

Yet Djokovic was always likely to need help from his rivals in the race to reach the ATP Finals and he got just that after Rafael Jodar lost his opening match against Casper Ruud in Paris.

The former World No 2 turned in one of his best performances of 2026 to beat Jodar 6-3, 6-4 in one hour and 18 minutes and advance to the third round and throw a big spanner into the race to the ATP Finals.

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“On the indoor court you have to be as aggressive as possible,” Ruud said. “There will be some mistakes, but I have accepted that in my game plan for indoor hard courts.

“It has been a tough balance for me to try to accept that more errors will come out of the racket, but in order to keep up with the level of these guys, you just have to go for it at times.”

Ruud’s victory ensured Italian Flavio Cobolli qualified for the ATP Finals for the first time and he will be hoping to be fully fit to play in front of his home fans in Turin after pulling out of last week’s tournament in Vienna last week.

Cobolli has also been forced to pull out of the Paris Masters, but he will have a couple of weeks to get ready for play in Turin.

Assuming he is fit to play, the ninth player in the ATP Race rankings will qualify for the Turin finals and Djokovic now has a chance to push for that final place.

The battle could come down to a showdown between Djokovic and Alex de Minaur, as the players currently ranked ninth and tenth in the ATP Race are on a collision course to meet in Paris.

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If Djokovic and De Minaur win their next matches, they will meet in the last-16 in the French capital and the winner of that match will emerge as a leading contender to qualify for the ATP Finals.

The American trio of Tommy Paul, Taylor Fritz and Frances Tiafoe are also in the mix for the race to qualify for Turin, but Jodar’s early defeat in Paris opens the door for Djokovic to plot a path to the Finals in Turin.

Djokovic may also need to beat newly crowned world No 1 Alexander Zverev to pick up enough points to make it through to the ATP Finals, but he was in a defiant mood after his win against Vacherot.

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