Five Frenchmen in Paris Masters round of 16 after Cazaux stuns Shelton

French lucky loser Arthur Cazaux defeated American Ben Shelton 6-3, 7-6 (4), joining four other French players in the last 16 of Paris Masters at the Accor Arena on Wednesday evening.

Cazaux was gifted a spot in the main draw of the Paris Masters despite losing in qualifying, after top seed Jannik Sinner withdrew on Tuesday morning due to an intestinal virus.

The Frenchman surprisingly out-served Shelton, firing down nine aces to five and winning 90 percent of first-serve points in the one-hour, 21-minute victory, which is his second top-20 win of the year.

Cazaux, ranked No 85, will face Dane Holger Rune, the No 13 seed, next.

Cazaux joins Fils, Humbert, Rinderknech and Mannarino in round of 16

Cazaux’s victory means that for the first time since 2009, and only the second time in the past four decades, five Frenchmen are in the Paris Masters round of 16.

The achievement is a stark contrast to the 2023 event, where just one French player made it past the opening round.

Now, Arthur Fils, Arthur Rinderknech, Adrian Mannarino and Ugo Humbert will all contest the round of 16 alongside Cazaux, with Fils looking particularly impressive after winning the Vienna Open last week and beating Marin Cilic (7-6 (5), 6-4) and Jan-Lennard Struff (6-3, 6-4) earlier this week.

“Of course, we’ve heard a lot of talk about ‘There are no French players in the second week of Grand Slams, no French players here, no French players there’,” said Fils on Wednesday. “But as time passes, a new generation is coming, and things are getting better and better. We need to keep going like this; French tennis is doing quite well, and it’s going to improve even more.”

Mannarino’s run in Paris is a welcome return to form for the veteran, who has had a challenging season after having a strong year in 2023. So far, he has upset No 11 seed Tommy Paul (6-3, 7-5) and seen off lucky loser Zizou Bergs (3-6, 6-2, 6-4) for his spot in the round of 16.

“It’s encouraging; it’s great for French tennis to see some top players still in the tournament mid-week. This hasn’t happened lately,” Mannarino reflected.

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

• Jack Draper beat Taylor Fritz (5): 7-6 (6), 4-6, 6-4
• Alexander Zverev (3) beat Tallon Griekspoor: 7-6 (2), 6-3
• Alex De Minaur (9) beat Miomir Kecmanovic (LL): 6-4, 7-6 (5)
• Karen Khachanov beat Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard (WC): 6-7 (12), 6-1, 6-4
• Holger Rune beat Alexander Bublik: 6-4, 6-2
• Ugo Humbert (15) beat Marcos Giron (Q): 6-3, 6-2
• Arthur Fils beat Jan-Lennard Struff: 6-3, 6-4
• Adrian Mannarino (WC) beat Zizou Bergs (LL): 3-6, 6-2, 6-4
• Alexei Popyrin beat Daniil Medvedev (4): 6-4, 2-6, 7-6 (4)
• Arthur Rinderknech (WC) beat Alex Michelsen: 7-6 (6), 7-6 (7)
• Grigor Dimitrov (8) beat Tomas Martin Etcheverry: 6-7 (9), 6-3, 7-5
• Jordan Thompson beat Casper Ruud (7): 7-6 (3), 3-6, 6-4
• 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)