Djokovic overcomes scare late in 2nd set to beat Vacherot in Paris Masters 1st round

PARIS, France — Record seven-time champion Novak Djokovic overcame a scare late in the second set to beat big-serving Valentin Vacherot 6-7 (5), 7-5, 6-1 in the first round of the Paris Masters on Tuesday. The men's record 24-time Grand Slam winner is chasing a 103rd career title, which would move him level in second place with Roger Federer. Jimmy Connors leads in the Open era on 109. But the 10th-seeded Serb could have gone out early in Paris. Serving at 4-4 in the second set, he needed to save three break points to prevent Vacherot — who won the Swiss Indoors on Sunday and beat Djokovic in the Shanghai Masters semifinals last year — from serving for the match at the indoor tournament. “His second serves are faster than my first serves, so it's very tough to play a guy in these conditions, which are really, really fast," Djokovic said. “Last year was very slow, this year is like ice.” Djokovic was bamboozled by the Monaco player's “huge” serves and saw 22 aces fly past him. “For a set and a half, I had difficulty reading his serve," Djokovic said. "Even if I guessed right, it was coming with some speed.” After breaking Vacherot to level...