Paris Masters: Dimitrov holds nerve to upset Medvedev and take place in last 16

The exodus of big names at the Rolex Paris Masters continued apace on Wednesday as third seed Daniil Medvedev was upended in the second round, beaten 6-3, 6-7 (4), 7-6 (2) by Grigor Dimitrov at the Accor Arena on Wednesday.

Dimitrov led 5-2 in the third set and had six match points in all – losing one of them after a 47-shot rally – before he finally got over the line after two hours, 54 minutes.

Medvedev joins No 2 seed Carlos Alcaraz and four Americans, Taylor Fritz (who withdrew), Frances Tiafoe, Tommy Paul and Ben Shelton in making an early exit.

The Bulgarian, ranked No 17, will play Kazakh Alexander Bublik next, and was happy just to have got it done after so many opportunities.

“At 5-4, 40-15, i didn’t go enough for my shots, that’s it,” he said. “I could have done a few things different…I was playing a good game to get up to 5-4, 40-15, it slipped there but good outcome in the end.

“You have to accept it, the moment is passed. In the end, I had to just remain in the game, trying to create some opportunities again. I knew I might have another one, both of us were quite tired, we had some crazy rallies. Today I’m on the happy end.”

47-shot rally on match point

Dimitrov led 5-2 and then, serving for the match at 5-3, 40-15, he was initially denied by the resilience of Medvedev, including winning a 47-shot rally. Somehow, Dimitrov regrouped and won the final-set tiebreak in impressive fashion.

“47, I don’t know, was that on the match point? I was so empty in my legs, I lost count. As a one-hander, it’s a little more difficult but those are the matches, those are the points I want to play.”

Medvedev contributed to his own downfall with eight double faults and 51 unforced errors but while Dimitrov also made 47 unforced errors, he hit 45 winners to the 22 of Medvedev and won 29 of 34 points at the net.

The Bulgarian beat Italian Lorenzo Musetti (6-2, 6-7 (4), 6-3) ahead of his victory.

Paris Masters, other second-round results (Accor Arena, EUR 5.779.335, most recent results first):

• Jannik Sinner vs. Mackenzie McDonald
• Dominic Thiem vs. Holger Rune
• Ugo Humbert vs. Alexander Zverev
• Casper Ruud vs. Francisco Cerundolo
• Dusan Lajovic vs. Alex De Minaur
• Novak Djokovic vs. Tomas Martin Etcheverry
• Stefanos Tsitsipas vs. Felix Auger-Aliassime
• Roberto Bautista Agut vs. Hubert Hurkacz: wednesday
• Botic van de Zandschulp (Q) beat Tommy Paul (12): 6-4, 2-6, 6-3
• Taylor Fritz vs. Daniel Altmaier
• Andrey Rublev (5) beat Yoshihito Nishioka (Q): 6-4, 6-3
• Alexander Bublik beat Nicolas Jarry: 7-6 (3), 7-6 (3)
• Roman Safiullin (Q) beat Carlos Alcaraz (2): 6-3, 6-4
• Karen Khachanov (16) beat Laslo Djere: 6-4, 7-5
• Tallon Griekspoor beat Alejandro Davidovich Fokina: 6-2, 6-2