Paris Masters: Dimitrov stages comeback to make last 16

Bulgarian Grigor Dimitrov, the No 8 seed, edged out Argentinian Tomas Martin Etcheverry 6-7 (9), 6-3, 7-5 to move into the last 16 of Paris Masters at the Accor Arena on Wednesday.

Dimitrov was made to battle hard by Etcheverry, who took the opening set in a tiebreak, failing to convert any of the three break points he created.

In the following sets, the Bulgarian kept his serve unchallenged while breaking the Argentine thrice to complete the comeback.

Dimitrov, 10th in the Race to ATP Finals, was motivated to continue his fight for a place in the year-end championships

“I’d probably give a lot to be in Italy. I don’t wanna lie,” he said after the win. “My approach to things is a bit different than many many years ago. I’m in a place where I’m still a contender. I’m still there. I’m still fighting against the best players in the world. I’m beating the younger guys still. This gives me confidence and makes me happy as well. If you ask me if I wanna be there… yeah, absolutely.”

Dimitrov, ranked No 9, will play French wildcard Arthur Rinderknech next.

Etcheverry, ranked No 40, defeated Chinese Zhizhen Zhang (6-3, 7-6 (6)) in the previous round of the Paris-Bercy tournament.

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
• Arthur Fils vs. Jan-Lennard Struff
• Zizou Bergs vs. Adrian Mannarino: wednesday
• Alexei Popyrin beat Daniil Medvedev (4): 6-4, 2-6, 7-6 (4)
• Arthur Rinderknech beat Alex Michelsen: 7-6 (6), 7-6 (7)
• 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)

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