Sinner reaches Paris QFs for first time, faces Shelton next
Jannik Sinner advanced to the quarter-finals at the Rolex Paris Masters for the first time on Thursday, when he moved past Francisco Cerundolo 7-5, 6-1 to keep alive his hopes of returning to No. 1 in the PIF ATP Rankings.
The Italian moved tentatively at times between points in the opening set and flexed out his right leg but never called for a medical timeout during the 86-minute clash. The second seed struck 12 winners to just two unforced errors in the opening set to lead and then won a 10-minute game at the start of the second set to break Cerundolo’s serve, striking a forehand winner on his second break point of the game. From that moment, Sinner raced to victory.
With his win, Sinner became the first Italian to reach the quarter-finals at all nine ATP Masters 1000 events. The 24-year-old has triumphed at Masters 1000 events in Miami, Canada, Cincinnati and Shanghai.
Sinner, who leads Cerundolo 4-2 in the pair’s Lexus ATP Head2Head series, has won his past 23 matches indoors and has kept alive his hopes of capitalising on Carlos Alcaraz’s early Paris loss in the battle for World No. 1: The Italian can return to top spot next Monday if he can lift his first Masters 1000 title of the season.
Sinner will next meet Ben Shelton after the American defeated Andrey Rublev 7-6(6), 6-3. Shelton and Sinner will both compete at the Nitto ATP Finals next month.
Shelton defeated Sinner in Shanghai in 2023 but has lost the six following meetings, not winning a set in any of the encounters. The American will hope to change that record on Friday.
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