Paris Masters: Tsitsipas recovers to beat Cerundolo and reach quarter-finals

Stefanos Tsitsipas, the No 10 seed, beat Argentinian Francisco Cerundolo 6-7 (1), 6-4, 6-2 to advance to the quarter-finals of Paris Masters at the Accor Arena on Thursday.

The Greek had to fight back from a set down to come through a testing encounter against the experienced and talented Argentine before eventually prevailing in three sets – the third of which was much more comfortable than the previous two.

Victory over Cerundolo means Tsitsipas has reached a 19th ATP Masters 1000 quarter-final since the start of the 2020 season – the most of any player over that period.

The win today also keeps alive Tsitsipas’ slim hopes of qualification for the season-ending ATP Finals in Turin next month.

The world No 11 will have to reach the final in order to keep his chances of qualification alive, something he is now just two wins away from doing. Lift the trophy in Paris and he won’t be assured of a spot in Turin, but will give himself a shot heading into the final week.

However, he will face a tough task in the next round as he takes on the winner of the match between German Alexander Zverev, the No 3 seed, and Frenchman Arthur Fils in the quarter-finals.

Earlier in the tournament, the Greek defeated Spanish lucky loser Roberto Carballes Baena (4-6, 6-3, 6-3) and Chilean Alejandro Tabilo (6-3, 6-4).

Cerundolo, ranked No 29, beat French qualifier Quentin Halys (7-6 (5), 6-3) and Russian Andrey Rublev, the No 6 seed (7-6 (6), 7-6 (5)) in the previous rounds of the Paris-Bercy tournament.

Paris Masters 1000, other last-16 results (Accor Arena, hard, EUR 5.950.575, most recent results first):

• Grigor Dimitrov vs. Arthur Rinderknech
• Ugo Humbert vs. Carlos Alcaraz
• Arthur Cazaux vs. Holger Rune
• Alexander Zverev vs. Arthur Fils
• Alex De Minaur vs. Jack Draper
• Karen Khachanov vs. Alexei Popyrin: thursday
• Jordan Thompson beat Adrian Mannarino (WC): 7-5, 7-6 (5)