Tsitsipas Downs Felix In Paris, Edges Closer To Turin

Stefanos Tsitsipas passed a stiff second-round test from the resurgent Felix Auger-Aliassime on Wednesday at the Rolex Paris Masters, where the Greek’s serving under pressure helped him seal a 6-3, 7-6(4) triumph.

Tsitsipas saved six of seven break points he faced in his one-hour, 48-minute victory to improve his Lexus ATP Head2Head record against Auger-Aliassime to 6-3. He rallied from 2-5 in the second set, fending off four set points overall before clinching his first win against the Canadian since 2021.

In it to WIN it ????@steftsitsipas saves FOUR set points in the second set before moving past Auger-Aliassime and into the third round! @RolexPMasters | #RolexParisMasters pic.twitter.com/v3FJ8QObrt

— ATP Tour (@atptour) November 1, 2023

Although last week’s Basel champion Auger-Aliassime fired 25 winners, including nine aces, to Tsitsipas’ 18 on Court Central, the seventh seed kept his cool to register his 49th tour-level win of 2023. The 25-year-old will next look to hit his half century for the season when he takes on 10th seed Alexander Zverev, who rallied from 2-4 in the third set to defeat Ugo Humbert 6-4, 6-7(3), 7-6(5) in three hours and 29 minutes and break the hearts of a passionate French crowd.

"I would love to have finished in two sets, but this added to the drama," said the German, who saved 11 of 13 break points faced. "I'm very happy to be through. It was a fantastic and entertaining battle." 

With Tsitsipas sixth in the Pepperstone ATP Race To Turin and Zverev seventh, Thursday's match has significant implications for qualification for the Nitto ATP Finals.

Fellow Turin hopeful Hubert Hurkacz also enjoyed a second-round win on Wednesday in Paris, where he eased past Roberto Bautista Agut 6-3, 6-2 to advance. The Pole’s display included 19 aces, a tally which took him past 1000 aces in a single ATP Tour season for the first time.

The World No. 11 Hurkacz has now won 14 of his past 16 matches at ATP Masters 1000 events, a tally that includes a title run at the Rolex Shanghai Masters in October. His next opponent in Paris, where he reached the semi-finals in 2021, will be Francisco Cerundolo. The Argentine defeated Casper Ruud 7-5, 6-4 to end the Norwegian's Nitto ATP Finals hopes.

Wednesday marked the end of another hopeful’s bid for a Turin spot. Botic van de Zandschulp downed Tommy Paul 6-4, 2-6, 6-3 to confirm the American is out of the running for a Nitto ATP Finals debut this year.

Van de Zandschulp has dropped just one set across four matches in Paris, where he came through qualifying. His next challenge in the French capital is a third-round meeting with fifth seed Andrey Rublev.

[SWEEPSTAKES]