Draper adds Fritz to list of upsets at Paris Masters so far

Jack Draper moved into the last 16 of Paris Masters by edging out American Taylor Fritz, the No 5 seed, 7-6 (6), 4-6, 6-4 at the Accor Arena on Wednesday.

The British No 1 is enjoying a hot streak following his title in Vienna last week, having now won seven matches on the bounce and risen to No 14 in the ATP live rankings. The 22-year-old also keeps alive his slim hopes of qualifying for the ATP Finals, with a title in Paris necessary for Draper.

“I competed really well,” Draper said after his victory over Fritz, where he made 38 winners but 53 unforced errors. “My tennis wasn’t great but that’s the [fast] conditions. I don’t think anyone is finding it easy to play. Not a lot of rallies, the court’s ­incre­dibly fast so it’s tough to hit really good groundstrokes and be con­sistent. But I looked after my serve, I tried my hardest, I competed really well and I got over the line against a top‑10 player so I’m feeling really happy with that.”

Seeds continue to fall in Paris

Fritz exiting the Paris Masters means that over the course of the last two days, a raft of high seeds have crashed out of the year’s final Masters 1000: Top seed Jannik Sinner (withdrew), No 4 seed Daniil Medvedev (lost to Alexei Popyrin), No 6 seed Andrey Rublev (lost to Francisco Cerundolo) and No 7 Casper Ruud (lost to Jordan Thompson).

No 2 seed Carlos Alcaraz and No 3 seed Alexander Zverev remain favourites to meet in the final, however, with both progressing to the third round unhindered.

Draper, ranked No 15, will play Australian Alex de Minaur, the No 9 seed, next.

In the previous round of the Paris-Bercy tournament, Jack Draper won against Jiri Lehecka (7-5, 6-2).

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

• Arthur Cazaux vs. Ben Shelton: wednesday
• Alexander Zverev (3) beat Tallon Griekspoor: 7-6 (2), 6-3
• Alex De Minaur 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 (13) 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)