Paris Masters: Thompson upsets Ruud (again) putting ATP Finals qualification in jeopardy

Australian Jordan Thompson reached the last 16 of Paris Masters by edging out Norwegian Casper Ruud, the No 7 seed, 7-6 (3), 3-6, 6-4 at the Accor Arena on Tuesday evening.

The pair had already played three times in 2024, with Thompson winning two of those, including recently at the Tokyo Open where he prevailed in straight sets. The Aussie maintained his momentum against Ruud, winning a tight opening set tiebreak, before stemming a Ruud comeback to win in three sets.

Ruud was the aggressor in the match, hitting 53 unforced errors over the course of the match but making 26 winners as well. However, with only a few points separating the pair of the two-hour, 33-minute clash, errors late in the third ultimately handed the match to Thompson.

The loss puts Ruud’s spot at the ATP Finals next month in jeopardy, with Alex de Minaur, Grigor Dimitrov and Stefanos Tsitsipas all capable of passing the Norwegian, who currently sits in seventh place.

Thompson, ranked No 28, will face the winner of the match between Belgian lucky loser Zizou Bergs and French wildcard Adrian Mannarino next.

In the previous round of the Paris-Bercy tournament, the Australian won against Spaniard Pedro Martinez Portero (6-4, 6-4).

Paris Masters 1000, other second-round results (Accor Arena, hard, EUR 5.950.575, most recent results first):

• Arthur Cazaux vs. Ben Shelton
• Alexander Zverev vs. Tallon Griekspoor
• Jack Draper vs. Taylor Fritz
• Alex De Minaur vs. Miomir Kecmanovic
• Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard vs. Karen Khachanov
• Alexander Bublik vs. Holger Rune
• Ugo Humbert vs. Marcos Giron
• Zizou Bergs vs. Adrian Mannarino
• Arthur Fils vs. Jan-Lennard Struff
• Alexei Popyrin vs. Daniil Medvedev
• Arthur Rinderknech vs. Alex Michelsen
• Grigor Dimitrov vs. Tomas Martin Etcheverry
• Stefanos Tsitsipas (10) beat Alejandro Tabilo: 6-3, 6-4
• Carlos Alcaraz (2) beat Nicolas Jarry: 7-5, 6-1
• Francisco Cerundolo beat Andrey Rublev (6): 7-6 (6), 7-6 (5)