Carlos Alcaraz and Jack Draper win comfortably in Paris but several seeds tumble in last ATP Masters 1000 event of year
By Becky Hart
Updated 29/10/2024 at 22:48 GMT
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Carlos Alcaraz won his opening match at the Paris Masters, defeating Nicolas Jarry in straight sets to move into round three at the final ATP 1000 event of the season. Jack Draper was another winner in Paris on Tuesday, defeating Jiri Lehecka in straight sets. But several seeds fell early in Paris, including Andrey Rublev and Frances Tiafoe, while Jannik Sinner withdrew due to a virus.
Alcaraz breezes past Jarry to progress in French capital
Video credit: SNTV
Carlos Alcaraz needed slightly longer than expected to dispatch Nicolas Jarry in Paris, beating the Chilean 7-5 6-1 in 90 minutes to make it to the third round at the final Masters 1000 tournament of the year.
Having received a first-round bye, this wasn’t the ideal draw for Alcaraz, who lost to Jarry earlier this season in straight sets on the clay courts in South America.
The Spaniard lost in the second round here last year and looked in some trouble early on against Jarry, a 4-1 lead being eroded by the Chilean before Alcaraz eventually ground out the first set 7-5 in just under an hour.
Coming to Paris off the back of defeat to Jannik Sinner in a Saudi Arabia exhibition, Alcaraz displayed some rustiness in the opening set, but found his stride in the second - especially on return.
The world No. 37 didn’t have an answer to Alcaraz’s ground strokes either, the latter unleashing some huge shots on both wings and unafraid to come forward when needed.
Jarry made more errors as the match wore on, the pressure to hit the lines leading to a few missed balls, and he went wide once again on match point to hand the victory to Alcaraz.
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Spain's Carlos Alcaraz plays a backhand return to Chile's Nicolas Jarry during their men's singles match on day two of the Paris ATP Masters 1000 tennis tournament
Image credit: Getty Images
With Sinner out of the tournament with a virus, Alcaraz is now among the clear favourites. Alexander Zverev decided to get a look at the man he might have to play in the final, watching on courtside to scout his rival close up.
Next up for Alcaraz will be the winner of Ugo Humbert v Marcos Giron.
DRAPER CONTINUES FINE FORM
Jack Draper won the biggest title of his career last weekend at the 500 event in Vienna. It was a tight turnaround to get ready for Paris, but the Brit picked up where he left off with victory over Jiri Lehecka.
Draper wrapped up the first set 7-5 in 39 minutes, breaking in the 11th game with some pinpoint returning.
He was the beneficiary of a lucky net cord early in the second set as he broke again, but that aside, Draper’s accuracy on serve proved too much for Lehecka to handle as the Brit won 96% behind his first serve.
Draper closed it out with an ace to record a 7-5 6-2 win in just over an hour, setting up a second round clash with Taylor Fritz.
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'Fresh, excited' Alcaraz believes ‘this year is going to be different’ as he targets Paris success
Video credit: TNT Sports
WINS FOR DE MINAUR and TSITSIPAS, BUT RUUD LOSES
Alex de Minaur made light work of Mariano Navone, beating the Argentine 7-5 6-1. The No. 9 seed still has a chance of making it to the World Tour Finals, but needs a strong showing this week in Paris to reach Turin.
Stefanos Tsitsipas was also a comfortable winner on Tuesday, the No. 10 seed beating Alejandro Tabilo 6-3 6-4 in just over an hour.
It’s been an up-and-down season for the Greek star, who hasn’t made it past the quarter-finals in any event since Gstaad back in July.
But a run here would help him climb back into the top 10, and give him an outside chance of making it to Turin.
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Casper Ruud lost late into the night in Paris, going down 7-6 (3) 3-6 6-4 to Australian Jordan Thompson in a hammer-blow to his chances of making it to Turin.
It was a high-quality encounter that had the crowd involved throughout, although there were plenty of flash points too.
Thompson was handed a point penalty, but argued his case with the umpire in a heated exchange - and he was lucky that moment didn’t prove his downfall.
Instead, he regrouped and served out the match, and now the Australian has beaten the Norwegian three times this year.
SEEDS BEATEN EARLY
The day session in Bercy wasn’t kind to the seeds, with Frances Tiafoe beaten in three sets, 6-7 (5) 7-6 (4) 6-3 by Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard, while Lorenzo Musetti lost in straight sets to Jan-Lennard Struff.
Andrey Rublev lost in two breakers to Francisco Cerundolo, and Alex Michelsen beat big-serving Hubert Hurkacz comfortably.
But Holger Rune at least beat Matteo Arnaldi in straight sets to ensure one seed made it through early doors. He'll face Alexander Bublik in the next round.
Those early losses will be influential in deciding which players make it to the World Tour Finals, with three places left available for the event in Turin.
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