Defending champion Novak Djokovic opened his Paris Masters campaign with a routine 7-6 (7-1), 6-4 win over Maxime Cressy on Tuesday, while Andrey Rublev and Hubert Hurkacz stayed in the hunt for a place at the ATP Finals with straight-sets victories.

Novak, a six-times winner at the ATP Masters 1000 event in the French capital, was made to toil in the opening set by Cressy but emerged unscathed after the American double-faulted twice in the tiebreak.

The Serbian raised his game in the second set, breaking his opponent at 4-4 before serving out the match with ease.

“It was very intense, just a lot of pressure. When you play someone that serves this well — first and second serve — you don’t have much room to relax and maybe play kind of a softer few games,” said the 21-time major champion Djokovic.

“A break came at the right time, perfect time actually. I was very pleased with the way I held my serve, didn’t face a break point.”

Earlier, Rublev was solid on return as he broke the big-serving John Isner three times to progress 6-2, 6-3.

Poland’s Hurkacz fired 20 aces and saved eight break points to overcome French left-hander Adrian Mannarino 7-6(5), 6-4 to stay on a course for a potential third-round clash against Rublev.

Third-seeded Casper Ruud, who has already qualified for the ATP Finals, defeated French wild card Richard Gasquet 6-1, 7-6 (9-7).