WATCH: Bercy Announcer Erroneously Calls Djokovic 7-Time Champion In Paris

| by Nurein Ahmed

The 2023 Paris Masters has been a tournament of upsets but on Wednesday, one of the court announcers made a real gaffe while introducing Novak Djokovic to the court.

The court announcer mistakenly called Djokovic a seven-time champion and defending champion of the event as he walked through the bright tunnel in Bercy and onto the stadium.

While this erroneous error slipped by many of those watching the match either inside the Accor Arena, those watching on were quick to capture the blunder.

Djokovic is the most decorated champion in the tournament, has won the Paris Masters six times, and has won the most matches of any player (46). Last year, he was defeated by Holger Rune in the final.

It is the Dane who is the current defending champion of the Paris Masters, not the Serbian. Tournament or court announcers are not responsible for writing the script and solely rely on the officials who prepare the fact sheet beforehand.

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It is possible that mistakes can happen in a live and fast-paced environment, but it begs the question of why the stats sheet was not fact-checked before printing it for the announcer.

Therefore, court announcers end up being culpable for mistakes not of their own making. It is not clear if Djokovic might have been concentrating on spotting the error while walking to the court, but the Serbian is most certainly eyeing a seventh Paris Masters crown.

Djokovic made a strong start in his bid to finish as the year-end No. 1. He beat Tomas Martin Etcheverry in straight sets in his first ATP match since winning the 2023 US Open over a month ago.

Tennis fans on X saw the funny side of this gaffe. One of them wrote, "So, PA person only watched the first set of last year's final?" in regards to the Serbian's three-set defeat last year.

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