At the Paris Masters on Thursday, Jannik Sinner defeated Francisco Cerundolo 7-5, 6-1, to advance to the quarter-finals, and Alexander Zverev, the current champion, defeated Alejandro Davidovich Fokina in straight sets in the third round.
After Carlos Alcaraz’s shock early exit at the hands of Britain’s Cameron Norrie, a maiden crown in the French capital will bring Sinner back to number one in the world rankings.
As he pursues what would be his fifth championship of the year, the four-time Grand Slam champion from Italy, no set has been dropped.
“I thought the first set was very important today,” she said. It’s very difficult to play against Francisco because of his level, Sinner said on-court.
“I raised the level in the second set, and I’m thrilled to be in the quarter-finals here for the first time.”
When Sinner seized on the serve of Argentina’s 21st-ranked player Cerundolo at 6-5 to take control of the opener, which featured four consecutive breaks, Sinner won favorably.
The 24-year-old then immediately increased their lead in the second set by leading by a set 5-1 before meeting with US fifth seed Shelton in Friday’s quarter-finals.
Shelton advanced to the last eight after defeating Russian Andrey Rublev 7-6 (8 / 3) 6-3.
The 23-year-old won a landmark tournament in Turin, his second of his career, following up on his first 1000-level title, which he won in Toronto this summer.
Shelton described the season-ending event as “an accumulation of a year’s work, a lot of ups and downs, great results, poor results, and having to bounce back.”
‘My Kryptonite’
In the day’s final match-up, Zverev defeated Spanish 15th seed Davidovich Fokina 6-2, 6-4, to extend his title defense.
Former world number one Daniil Medvedev, who defeated Lorenzo Sonego of Italy in three sets, will face the German third seed next.
The now-ranked Russian won both matches, including the title-match in 2020, with Zverev and Medvedev having previously met in the Paris Masters.
“Daniil is a person I know very well, and he frequently outwits me.” Zverev acknowledged that he resembles my kryptonite a little.
Alexander Bublik of Kazakhstan defeated US fourth seed Taylor Fritz 7-6 (7 / 6) 6-2 to set up a last-eight contest with world number six Alex de Minaur of Australia.
13th seed Bublik said it would take something extraordinary for him to win his career’s first Masters title despite the fact that he arguably had the best life in 2025.
The 28-year-old said, “I have three matches left to win, I have to beat the top ten players, maybe Jannik in the final,” which “sounds a miracle.”
De Minaur, Bublik’s next opponent, defeated Russian 10th seed Karen Khachanov 6-2, 6-2, cementing his place at the ATP Finals the following month.
Felix Auger-Aliassime from Canada defeated German Daniel Altmaier 33-6, 6-3, 6-2 in the quarter-finals after coming from behind for the third time in as many matches in Paris.
The ninth seed occupies a spot away from Lorenzo Musetti’s previous ATP Finals spot, which he currently holds after losing to Sonego on Wednesday.
The 25-year-old would advance above the Italian in the race to the eight-man showpiece with an Auger-Aliassime charge to the title-decider in Paris.
However, Auger-Aliassime must stop Monaco’s in-form Valentin Vacherot before he can begin to think about that.
Source: Channels TV
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