At 39, Djokovic Just Took a Record Off Jimmy Connors

The record sat untouched for 35 years. On Tuesday in Paris, Novak Djokovic took it off Jimmy Connors.

Djokovic beat Valentin Vacherot 6-7(5), 7-5, 6-1 in the first round of the Rolex Paris Masters, and at 39 he is now the oldest man ever to win a match at this tournament. Connors set the mark in 1991 and nobody had touched it since.

It nearly went the other way. Djokovic led the first-set tiebreak 5-4, dumped a forehand volley, and watched Vacherot rip off the last four points. He had his right shoulder worked on. In the second set, serving at 4-4, he saved three break points — lose any of them and Vacherot serves for the match. Instead Djokovic held, broke at 6-5 to level it, and then ran the third set 6-1. Two hours and 35 minutes, done.

Vacherot was no soft opener. The world No. 27 hit 22 aces, arrived on a five-match win streak after lifting the Basel title on Sunday, and he is the same man who stunned Djokovic in last year's Shanghai semifinals on his way to becoming the lowest-ranked Masters 1000 champion in history. Djokovic owed him one, and he collected it the hard way.

The record he broke is a real one. Connors was 39 years and 56 days old when he beat Ronald Agenor in Paris in 1991. Djokovic, born in May 1987, is five and a half months past his 39th birthday — he clears Connors by more than three months.

Paris keeps handing him its record book. The win was his 51st at this tournament, also the most in its history, in a record 18th appearance. His seven Paris titles are the tournament record too. He had not played here since winning it in 2023, and the win snapped a four-match losing streak at Masters 1000 level — the worst of his career.

His review of all that: "For an old guy, not so bad. People think I'm too old, too slow, but somehow I managed to find a way to win this kind of matches, especially the ones that go the distance."

Next is Australian qualifier Rinky Hijikata in the second round on Wednesday. The bigger chase runs underneath it: Djokovic sits 11th in the live Race to Turin and needs a run to the semifinals to keep his ATP Finals hopes alive. A title would settle it outright.

The Take: Every obituary for this man's career gets postponed by the man himself. Connors held this record for 35 years because 39-year-olds are not supposed to win three-set fights against in-form opponents 12 years younger — Djokovic just did. Turin should probably hold a seat. More from the Sports desk is on the Previously Sports front.