The 2003 BNP Paribas Masters was a men's

tennis Tennis is a racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent (singles) or between two teams of two players each (doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket that is strung with cord to strike a hollow rubber ball cov ...

tournament played on indoor

carpet court A carpet court is a type of tennis court. The International Tennis Federation describes the surface as a "textile or polymeric material supplied in rolls or sheets of finished product." It is one of the fastest court types, second only to grass co ...

s. It was the 31st edition of the

Paris Masters The Paris Masters is an annual tennis tournament for male professional players held in Paris, France. It is played indoors at the AccorHotels Arena, in the neighborhood of Bercy. The event is part of the ATP Tour Masters 1000 on the Association ...

and was part of the

Tennis Masters Series The ATP Masters 1000 tournaments (previously known as ATP Masters Series) is an annual series of nine tennis tournaments featuring the top-ranked players on the ATP Tour. The series' events have been held in Europe and North America since the ...

of the

2003 ATP Tour The 2003 ATP Tour was the global elite men's professional tennis circuit organised by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) for the 2003 tennis season. The ATP Tour is the elite tour for professional tennis organised by the ATP. The ATP T ...

. It took place at the

Palais Omnisports de Paris-Bercy Palais () may refer to: * Dance hall, popularly a ''palais de danse'', in the 1950s and 1960s in the UK * ''Palais'', French for palace ** Grand Palais, the Grand Palais des Champs-Elysées ** Petit Palais, an art museum in Paris * Palais River ...

in Paris in France from 27 October through 2 November 2003. Unseeded

Tim Henman Timothy Henry Henman (born 6 September 1974) is a British former professional tennis player. Henman played a serve-and-volley style of tennis. He was the first British man to reach the singles semifinals of Wimbledon since Roger Taylor in th ...

won the singles title.

Tournament review

won the men's singles title to claim his debut Masters Series title, and what ultimately proved to be the last of 11 titles Henman won during his career. He beat

Nikolay Davydenko Nikolay Vladimirovich Davydenko ( rus, Никола́й Влади́мирович Давыде́нко ; born 2 June 1981) is a Ukrainian-born Russian former professional tennis player. He achieved a career-high singles ranking of World No. 3 i ...

, Sébastien Grosjean,

Gustavo Kuerten Gustavo "Guga" Kuerten (; born 10 September 1976) is a Brazilian former world No. 1 tennis player. He won the French Open singles title three times (1997, 2000, and 2001), and was the Tennis Masters Cup champion in 2000. During his career he ...

Roger Federer Roger Federer (; born 8 August 1981) is a Swiss former professional tennis player. He was ranked world No. 1 by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) for 310 weeks, including a record 237 consecutive weeks, and finished as the year-e ...

, and

Andy Roddick Andrew Stephen Roddick (born 30 August 1982) is an American former world No. 1 tennis player. He is a major champion, having won the 2003 US Open. Roddick reached four other major finals ( Wimbledon in 2004, 2005, and 2009, and the US Ope ...

en route to victory against

Andrei Pavel Andrei Pavel (born 27 January 1974) is a Romanian tennis coach and former professional tennis player. Career Andrei began playing tennis at age eight, and moved to Germany at age sixteen. Turned professional in 1995. He won three singles tit ...

in the final. Andy Roddick's performance in reaching the semi-finals lifted him to No. 1 in the rankings. Despite his loss to Henman he gained the top spot from

Juan Carlos Ferrero Juan Carlos Ferrero Donat (; born 12 February 1980) is a Spanish former world No. 1 tennis player. He won the men's singles title at the 2003 French Open, and in September of that year became the 21st player to hold the top ranking, which he ...

, who lost to

Jiří Novák Jiří Novák (; born 22 March 1975) is a Czech former professional tennis player. He was born in Zlín, Czechoslovakia but resides nowadays in Monte Carlo, Monaco. Career Novák turned professional in 1993 and won seven singles and 18 double ...

earlier in the competition. He became the fourth youngest male player to reach number one.

David Nalbandian David Pablo Nalbandian (; born 1 January 1982) is an Argentine retired professional tennis player who played on the ATP Tour from 2000 until his retirement in 2013. He reached the highest ranking in singles of world No. 3 in March 2006. Nalban ...

secured the final place in the

Tennis Masters Cup The ATP Finals is the season-ending championship of the ATP Tour. It is the most significant event in the annual ATP calendar after the four majors as it features the top-eight singles players and top-eight doubles teams based on their results th ...

even though he did not play at the event.

Paradorn Srichaphan Paradorn Srichaphan ( th, ภราดร ศรีชาพันธุ์; ; ; born 14 June 1979) is a retired professional tennis player from Thailand. He was the first men's singles player from Asia to be ranked in the top 10 of the ATP ra ...

, the only player who could beat him to eighth place in the rankings, lost in the third round.

Finals

Singles

defeated

6–2, 7–6^(8–6), 7–6^(7–2) * It was Henman's 2nd title of the year and the 11th of his career. It was his 1st Masters Series title.

Doubles

Wayne Arthurs / Paul Hanley defeated

Michaël Llodra Michaël Llodra (; born 18 May 1980) is a French former professional tennis player. He was a successful doubles player with three Grand Slam championships and an Olympic silver medal, and has also had success in singles, winning five career titl ...

Fabrice Santoro Fabrice Vetea Santoro (born 9 December 1972) is a French retired tennis player. Successful in both singles and doubles, he had an unusually long professional career, with many of his accomplishments coming toward the end of his career, and he is ...

6–3, 1–6, 6–3 * It was Arthurs' 4th title of the year and the 10th of his career. It was Hanley's 5th title of the year and the 6th of his career.

References

External links

Official website

ATP tournament profile
{{2003 ATP Tour

BNP Paribas Masters The Paris Masters is an annual tennis tournament for male professional players held in Paris, France. It is played indoors at the AccorHotels Arena, in the neighborhood of Bercy. The event is part of the ATP Tour Masters 1000 on the Association o ...