Stefanos Tsitsipas showcased his resilience on Thursday at the Rolex Paris Masters, advancing to his fourth quarter-final at this prestigious tournament.
With a gritty 6-7(1), 6-4, 6-2 victory over Francisco Cerundolo, the 10th seed bolstered his chances of qualifying for his sixth straight Nitto ATP Finals, moving to 11th position in the PIF ATP Live Race To Turin. Tsitsipas will need to reach the final to maintain his hopes.
In a two-hour and 21-minute battle, the former World No. 3 clinched his second victory over Cerundolo in recent weeks, following a previous win in Basel. Despite Cerundolo's 100th tour-level win earlier in the week, he was unable to convert three break points in the first set, eventually leading to a tie-break win. Tsitsipas responded by adopting a more attacking strategy, breaking early in the second set, and raising his level to secure the match.
Awaiting Tsitsipas in the last eight is either third seed Alexander Zverev or #NextGenATP talent Arthur Fils, who engaged in an intense match.
In another match, Jordan Thompson achieved a milestone by defeating wild card Adrian Mannarino 7-5, 7-6(5), reaching his first ATP Masters 1000 quarter-final. His win, achieved in two hours and 20 minutes, propelled him to a career-high No. 26 in the PIF ATP Live Rankings.
Reflecting on his performance, Thompson said, “This is what we’ve been working towards — big results at big tournaments. It was tense towards the end, but I managed to turn it around and played some of my best points to clinch the tie-break.”
Thompson will face either France’s Ugo Humbert or World No. 2 Carlos Alcaraz next, as he vies for a place in the semi-finals.