Auger-Aliassime meetings in Paris; Nadal stumbles

PARIS — Felix Auger-Aliassime and Andrey Rublev qualified for the ATP Finals after Taylor Fritz and Hubert Hurkacz, the other contenders for the two remaining places, lost in the second round of the Paris Masters on Wednesday.

Eighth-seeded Auger-Aliassime survived qualifier Mikael Ymer 6-7(6), 6-4, 7-6(6) to then face Gilles Simon, who defeated ninth-seeded Fritz 7-5 , 5 -7, 6-4.

Auger-Aliassime saved 14 of 17 break points and converted four of five to extend his winning streak to 14 games.

Fritz failed to convert three set points on Simon’s serve at 5-4 in the first set. The American also failed to convert any of the three break points he had at 3-2 in the final set. He committed 36 unforced errors to 16 for Simon, who is ranked 188th and plans to retire after this tournament.

Teenager Holger Rune upset 10th-seeded Hurkacz 7-5, 6-1 to take on Rublev, who reached the third round on Tuesday.

Prior to the Paris Masters, Carlos Alcaraz, Stefanos Tsitsipas, Casper Ruud, Daniil Medvedev, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic had already qualified for the eight-man tournament in Turin from November 13-20.

Alcaraz, Tsitsipas, Alex De Minaur and Lorenzo Musetti also advanced to the third round in Paris, while Nadal’s 3-6, 7-6(4), 6-1 loss to Tommy Paul raised questions about his fitness in his first singles match since. the US Open.

Second-seeded Nadal committed 19 unforced errors to Paul’s 18 and lost serve three times in the final set, looking almost resigned.

“At the end, I need days on the circuit,” Nadal said. “It’s true that in the last five months I haven’t had enough days on the circuit. I’m not even saying competing on a tennis court. I’m saying on the circuit. Training with the guys. C is what I need.”

Paul next faces Pablo Carreno Busta, who edged Denis Shapovalov 7-6(2), 2-6, 6-4.

De Minaur upset fourth-seeded Medvedev 6-4, 2-6, 7-5 to then face Frances Tiafoe, who beat Jack Draper 6-3, 7-5.

De Minaur beat Medvedev for the first time in five encounters.

After recovering from a 2-0 deficit in the final set, De Minaur failed to convert his first two match points at 5-4. He hit a return on the first match point and committed an unforced error on the second.

But the Australian player got two more chances at 6-5. Medvedev saved the third match point with a service winner before double faulting on the fourth and angrily throwing his racquet to the ground.

“I’m happy to have played a very tactical game,” De Minaur told Tennis Channel. “I just tried to wait for my good ball and back up and back up my volley. That’s something I tried to implement a lot more. I don’t do it as often as I would like , but I have a good volley.”

Medvedev, who won the Paris Masters in 2020 and was a runner-up last year, lost serve in the opening set by hitting a spike in the final match. But the Russian player took advantage of De Minaur’s unforced errors to break twice in the second set.

Top-seeded Alcaraz beat Yoshihito Nishioka 6-4, 6-4 to rack up more points in their run for the year-end No. 1 ranking.

Alcaraz lost a break in the eighth game but powered a running forehand pass to regain a 5-4 lead before grabbing the opener with a forehand winner.

The Spanish player whipped another forehand winner to take Nishioka’s serve at 4-4 in the second set.

Alcaraz hit 30 winners to seven for the Japanese player and will next face Grigor Dimitrov, who dispatched lucky loser Fabio Fognini 6-0, 7-5.

Fifth-seeded Tsitsipas beat Daniel Evans 6-3, 6-4 to lead the ATP Tour with 58 wins this year.

Tsitsipas took a 3-0 lead in the first set. He then hit a forehand winner across the field to break Evans in the opener of the second, before converting his first match point with an ace.

“I’m happy with the level of tennis I brought when I had to,” said Tsitsipas. “I was moving well, I was dictating well. I put everything together, including my defence, going on the attack. I was serving well, I was very calm in the important moments, and it paid off.”

Musetti beat Nikoloz Basilashvili 6-4, 6-2 to next face third-seeded Ruud.