It has been confirmed! Rafael Nadal will end 2017 as world number one after defeating South Korea's Chung Hyeon in Paris Masters' round of 32 clash. There is no doubt that the Spaniard will be pleased with this special achievement, but as of now, his focus will be on winning the Paris Masters.

The "King of Clay" has moved into the round of 16, and is set to meet Uruguay's Pablo Cuevas on Thursday (November 2). Nadal will start the match as favourite as his form in 2017 has been immaculate. It would prove to be great upset if the Spaniard fails to move into the next round of the competition.

Despite being the top seed and ultimate favourite, Nadal will not take Cuevas lightly. As one has seen in the past, he treats his opponent with respect, thus bringing his A game to outclass them, more often than not.

Nadal will come into this match after beating Chung in straight sets, but the world number one was tested in the first set. He came back stronger to win 7-5, 6-3. This opening set test might have alerted him before this clash – the need to be on high level of concentration for this tie against Cuevas.

Rafael Nadal
Rafael Nadal.Reuters

Cuevas will be buoyed to meet Nadal as the Uruguyan delivered the goods in his last match and knocked the 15th seed, Albert Ramos Vinolas, out of the competition in their last match.

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Cuevas showed some strong character to come back from a set down to move into the next round, and the unseeded player needs to play even better tennis to get past Nadal.

Nadal has a good head-to-head record against Cuevas, winning thrice and only losing once. Can Nadal continue his impressive record against the Uruguayan or will Cuevas create a massive upset?

Where to watch live

Rafael Nadal vs Pablo Cuevas match is scheduled for 7:30 pm local time (12 am IST, 2:30 pm EST).

Here is the live streaming and TV information

India: TV: SONY ESPN. Live streaming: Sony LIV

USA: TV: Tennis Channel. Live streaming: Tennis Channel

Australia: TV: ESPN. Live streaming: Watch ESPN

UK: TV: Sky Sports. Live streaming: Sky Go

Malaysia: TV: Astro Supersport. Live streaming: Astro Go