Paris, Nov 2 (AFP\/APP): World number one Carlos Alcaraz eased into the last 16 of the Paris Masters on Wednesday with a 6-4, 6-4 win over Japan’s Yoshihito Nishioka, but Daniil Medvedev was sent packing by Alex de Minaur.<\/p>\n
Alcaraz, the reigning US Open champion, will play Grigor Dimitrov or Fabio Fognini for a place in the quarter-finals.<\/p>\n
The 19-year-old smacked 30 winners including nine aces despite a heavily-taped left knee, an issue he had downplayed on Monday.<\/p>\n
“I tried to find my best level. I think I played really well. I don’t think about the pressure of being world number one,” said Alcaraz.<\/p>\n
Felix Auger-Aliassime began his bid for a fourth title in as many weeks by battling back from the brink to beat Mikael Ymer in three hours and 30 minutes.<\/p>\n
The Canadian eighth seed scraped through 6-7 (6\/8), 6-4, 7-6 (8\/6) to extend his winning streak to 14 matches.<\/p>\n
Auger-Aliassime saved two break points at 1-4 in the second set just as Ymer looked poised to end his unbeaten run.<\/p>\n
“Somehow I found a second wind after saving those break points at 4-1,” said Auger-Aliassime.<\/p>\n
“It was pretty epic. Definitely a win to remember.”
\nEarlier, Australia’s Alex de Minaur knocked out former world number one Medvedev, rediscovering his momentum in the final set to win 6-4, 2-6, 7-5.<\/p>\n
Fifth-ranked Stefanos Tsitsipas had no problem in seeing off Britain’s Dan Evans 6-3, 6-4 to book his place in the last 16.<\/p>\n
De Minaur rallied from 0-2 in a topsy-turvy final set but squandered two match points on the Russian’s serve in a gripping 10th game.<\/p>\n
Despite that disappointment, he was again aggressive on return at 6-5 and a Medvedev double fault on a fourth match point at 30\/40 gave De Minaur the biggest win of his career.<\/p>\n
The world number 25, who had not previously beaten a top-five player, will now face US Open semi-finalist Frances Tiafoe, who eased past Jack Draper 6-3, 7-5.<\/p>\n
After dropping the opening set, third-ranked Medvedev appeared to be back in control as he romped through the second set to level the match.<\/p>\n
But the Russian became increasingly agitated, losing confidence, especially on his serve, and delivered a string of unforced errors.<\/p>\n
He let out his frustration at the end of the match, which lasted two hours and 46 minutes, smashing his racket on the ground before warmly congratulating his 23-year-old opponent.<\/p>\n
– Tsitsipas moves on –<\/p>\n
Greek star Tsitsipas had the edge over Evans from the start and completed a comfortable victory in 80 minutes.<\/p>\n
With Evans struggling to get into the contest and committing a number of unforced errors, Tsitsipas took the initiative by breaking his opponent’s opening service game in both sets.<\/p>\n
“I was really looking forward to going out there and playing a proper match,” said Tsitsipas.<\/p>\n
“Not great memories from last year but I was trying to give it another go this year. I’m happy with the way I played, I’m happy with the level of tennis I brought when I had to and it was a great start.”<\/p>\n
The 24-year-old, whose best performance at Bercy came in 2019 when he lost to Novak Djokovic in the quarter-finals, will face either Cameron Norrie, another Briton, or Frenchman Corentin Moutet next.<\/p>\n
Both he and Medvedev were guaranteed to play the end-of-season ATP Finals in Turin later this month regardless of their performance in Paris.<\/p>\n
Italy’s Lorenzo Musetti beat Nikoloz Basilashvili of Georgia 6-4, 6-2 to set up a last-16 meeting with third seed Casper Ruud.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Paris, Nov 2 (AFP\/APP): World number one Carlos Alcaraz eased into the last 16 of the Paris Masters on Wednesday with a 6-4, 6-4 win over Japan’s Yoshihito Nishioka, but Daniil Medvedev was sent packing by Alex de Minaur. Alcaraz, the reigning US Open champion, […]<\/p>\n
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