Advertisement

Sinner and Zverev march into Paris Masters last eight

tennis30 October 2025 21:54| © AFP
Share
article image
Jannik Sinner © Getty Images

Jannik Sinner eased past Francisco Cerundolo 7-5, 6-1 at the Paris Masters on Thursday to set up a quarter-final clash with Ben Shelton, while reigning champion Alexander Zverev earned a straight-sets win over Alejandro Davidovich Fokina in the third round.

A maiden crown in the French capital will return Sinner to number one in the world rankings after current incumbent Carlos Alcaraz suffered a shock early exit at the hands of Cameron Norrie.

The Italian four-time Grand Slam champion is yet to drop a set in the tournament as he hones in on what would be a fifth title of the season.

"Today I felt like first set was very crucial. Francisco is a very talented player it's very difficult to play against him because his level is very high," Sinner said on-court.

"In the second set I raised the level... and I'm very happy to be in the quarter-finals here for the first time."

Sinner edged a close first set, which featured four consecutive breaks, when he pounced on Cerundolo's serve at 6-5 to seize the initiative.

The 24-year-old then immediately stepped up his level in the second set, racing into a 5-1 lead before serving out to book a last-eight meeting with US fifth seed Ben Shelton on Friday.

Shelton beat Russia's Andrey Rublev 7-6 (8/6), 6-3 to reach the last eight.

The victory marked another landmark moment for the 23-year-old this season -- following on from his first 1000-level title, won in Toronto this summer -- as he will make his debut appearance at the season-ending ATP Finals.

"It's an accumulation of a year's work, a lot of ups-and-downs, great results, poor results and having to bounce back," Shelton said of reaching Turin.

MY KRYPTONITE 

Zverev continued his title defence with a 6-2, 6-4 win over Spanish 15th seed Davidovich Fokina in the day's final match-up.

The German third seed will next meet an old foe in former world number one Daniil Medvedev, who fought past Lorenzo Sonego of Italy in three sets.

Zverev and Medvedev have met twice before in the Paris Masters, with the now-11th seeded Russian winning on both occasions, including the title-match in 2020.

"Daniil is somebody that I know extremely well and he beats me most of the time. He's a bit like my kryptonite," Zverev admitted.

Earlier, Bublik downed Fritz 7-6 (7/5), 6-2 to set up a last eight meeting with Australian world number six Alex de Minaur.

Despite arguably being in the form of his life in the latter half of 2025, Bublik said it would require a "miracle" for him to win a career-first Masters title in Paris.

"Tennis is very brutal that way, if you have results you're playing your best tennis, if you're not, you're down," the 28-year-old said.

"I have three matches to go, I have to beat the top ten players, maybe Jannik (Sinner) in the final, so that sounds a bit like a miracle."

Bublik's next opponent, De Minaur, eased past Russian 10th seed Karen Khachanov 6-2, 6-2, and in the process cemented his place at next month's ATP Finals in Turin.

Canada's Felix Auger-Aliassime reached the quarterfinals as he came from behind for the third time in as many matches in Paris to beat German Daniel Altmaier 3-6, 6-3, 6-2.

The ninth seed is one spot outside the last ATP Finals berth, which is currently occupied by Lorenzo Musetti, who lost on Wednesday to fellow Italian Lorenzo Sonego.

That result coupled with an Auger-Aliassime charge to the title-decider in Paris would send the 25-year-old above Musetti in the race to the eight-man showpiece in Turin.

However, before he can think too much about that, Auger-Aliassime must stop the in-form Valentin Vacherot of Monaco.

The Shanghai Masters champion continued his sensational run by ousting Briton Norrie in straight sets in the opening match on centre court.

Advertisement