After emphatically snapping a six-match winless record in the third round of the Rolex Paris Masters on Thursday, Grigor Dimitrov claimed another straight-sets victory to book his place in the semi-finals on Friday.

Backing up his impressive 72-minute win against Dominic Thiem, the Bulgarian survived a late test to move past Cristian Garin 6-2, 7-5 in 89 minutes. Dimitrov is through to his first ATP Masters 1000 semi-final since the Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters in April 2018.

Since dropping the opening set in his first-round match against Ugo Humbert, Dimitrov has claimed eight consecutive sets to improve to 13-7 at the ATP Masters 1000 event. The 28-year-old is through to his second semi-final of the year after making his third Grand Slam semi-final appearance at the US Open in September.

Dimitrov will meet Novak Djokovic or Stefanos Tsitsipas for a spot in the championship match. The World No. 27 owns one victory from nine FedEx ATP Head2Head encounters against Djokovic and is yet to meet Tsitsipas on the ATP Tour. Dimitrov will be aiming to reach his first final since a runner-up finish at last year’s ABN AMRO World Tennis Tournament (l. to Federer).

Dimitrov started quickly, attacking Garin’s forehand and playing with variety to jump into a 3-0 lead. Dropping just four points behind his first serve (16/20), the eight-time ATP Tour titlist maintained his advantage to 5-2 before dictating play with his forehand to earn a second break and, with it, the first set.

After trading breaks early in the second set, Garin capitalised on a series of errors from Dimitrov to serve for the set at 5-4. But the Bulgarian raised his level to move through to the semi-finals. Dimitrov played with aggression on his forehand and varied the pace on his backhand to earn three straight games and a place in the last four.

Garin ends his breakthrough season on the ATP Tour with a 31-22 record. The 23-year-old became the first Chilean to win an ATP Tour trophy since Fernando Gonzalez in 2009, lifting ATP 250 crowns on clay in Houston and Munich.

Four-time Rolex Paris Masters champion Novak Djokovic will look to even the score against Greece’s Stefanos Tsitsipas on Friday when the two meet for the second time this season in the Paris quarter-finals.

The World No. 1 lost to Tsitsipas just three weeks ago in the quarter-finals of the Rolex Shanghai Masters and trails the 21-year-old 1-2 in their FedEx ATP Head2Head series. The Greek also beat Djokovic last year at the ATP Masters 1000 event in Toronto, but Djokovic beat Tsitsipas in the Mutua Madrid Open final in May.

“He’s a very good player, he has improved and he’s very professional and trains a lot,” Djokovic said of Tsitsipas. “That reflects positively on his game. He’s one of the best players in the world, so I’m looking forward to that challenge.”

But more than just bragging rights in their FedEx ATP Head2Head rivalry will be on the line. If Djokovic falls to 1-3 against Tsitsipas, his hopes of finishing as the year-end No. 1 in the ATP Rankings for the sixth time could take a significant hit.

A Djokovic loss in the quarter-finals would mean Rafael Nadal could guarantee his place atop the year-end standings for the fifth time by making the Paris final. But Djokovic, as he has stated throughout the week, isn’t worrying about the battle for year-end No. 1; he’s focussed on the task at hand, and in this case, that will be shaking off his recent loss against Tsitsipas after winning the first set in Shanghai.

“I was a set up and close [in the] second set. I couldn’t finish it off, and the match was turned around,” Djokovic said. “I’m hoping that I can start off the match as well as I did in Shanghai but also keep going to the end.”

Tsitsipas, who will compete in the Nitto ATP Finals for the first time from 10-17 November at The O2 in London, seeks his first ATP Masters 1000 title. The Greek star, who triumphed at last year’s Next Gen ATP Finals, has already made the semi-finals at three Masters 1000 events this year (Madrid, Rome, Shanghai).

The winner of Djokovic-Tsitsipas will meet an unseeded player: 2017 Nitto ATP Finals champ Grigor Dimitrov or two-time ATP Tour titlist Cristian Garin of Chile. Dimitrov and Garin will be meeting for the first time in their FedEx ATP Head2Head series.

The 23-year-old Garin, who won clay-court titles earlier this year in Houston and Munich, is seeking his first semi-final at this level against the 2017 Cincinnati titlist.

Gael Monfils will try to book a return trip to the Nitto ATP Finals when he meets #NextGenATP Canadian Denis Shapovalov. Monfils came back to beat Radu Albot on Thursday evening in front of a passionate Paris crowd, and the 33-year-old will surely look to get the crowd engaged early and often against the 20-year-old Shapovalov, who is seeking his second Masters 1000 semi-final of the season (Miami, l. to Federer).

Jo-Wilfried Tsonga is looking to continue rolling back the clock at his home Masters 1000 event. The Frenchman, who won this title in 2008, is through to his first Masters 1000 quarter-final since Paris 2016 and will face second seed Rafael Nadal, who has looked sharp in his first two matches.

Nadal, playing in his first ATP Tour event since the Laver Cup in September, won in straight sets against home favourite Adrian Mannarino and Swiss Stan Wawrinka. Regardless of how Djokovic fares, Nadal can clinch his fifth year-end No. 1 finish by winning his first Paris Masters 1000 crown.

Brits Jamie Murray and Neal Skupski made their third consecutive ATP Masters 1000 quarter-final on Thursday, upsetting second seeds Marcel Granollers and Horacio Zeballos 6-3, 3-6, 11-9 at the Rolex Paris Masters.

Murray and Skupski joined forces during the grass-court season, and they have found their stride over the past few months, making the semi-finals in Cincinnati, Shanghai and at the US Open. They will next face fifth seeds Kevin Krawietz and Andreas Mies, who lifted the Roland Garros trophy this year.

Granollers and Zeballos, who were clinging to their dreams of qualifying for the Nitto ATP Finals, were not the only victims of the upset bug on Thursday. London qualifiers Rajeev Ram and Joe Salisbury ousted top seeds Juan Sebastian Cabal and Robert Farah 7-5, 5-7, 10-3. The American-British pair did not drop a service point in the Match Tie-break.

Ram and Salisbury, who triumphed in Vienna last week, will next face eighth seeds Ivan Dodig and Filip Polasek in what will be a crucial match in the ATP Doubles Race To London. Dodig and Polasek, who eliminated Jurgen Melzer and Edouard Roger-Vasselin 2-6, 6-3, 10-8, are in a tight battle with Jeremy Chardy and Fabrice Martin for the final doubles spot at the Nitto ATP Finals.

Chardy and Martin kept their hopes alive with a 6-2, 6-3 victory against Divij Sharan and Artem Sitak. They will next play seventh seeds Pierre-Hugues Herbert and Nicolas Mahut in an all-French match.

Russians Andrey Rublev and Karen Khachanov converted on eight of 11 break points to beat New Zealand’s Marcus Daniell and Austrian Philipp Oswald 6-4, 7-5. They will try to overcome Canadian Denis Shapovalov, who remains in the singles draw, and Indian Rohan Bopanna. Shapovalov and Bopanna ousted Argentine Maximo Gonzalez and American Austin Krajicek 6-1, 6-3 beind strong serving, winning 92 per cent of their first-serve points.

The stars aligned for a spooky coincidence on Halloween at the Rolex Paris Masters Thursday: Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal and Stefanos Tsitsipas all collected their 50^th wins on the season.

Tsitsipas, who reached the milestone for the first time, also notched his 100^th career match win with a 6-3, 6-4 win over Australian Alex de Minaur, whom he also defeated in the title match of the 2018 Next Gen ATP Finals.

Djokovic followed next with a 7-6(7), 6-1 win over Briton Kyle Edmund to record his 12^th 50+ wins season, tying the mark of Ivan Lendl. Only Roger Federer (15) and Jimmy Connors (14) have done it more.

Nadal, who on Monday is guaranteed to usurp the No. 1 ATP Ranking from Djokovic, reached 50 wins in a season for the 11^th time following a 6-4, 6-4 win over Stan Wawrinka.

Russian Daniil Medvedev leads the tour with 59 match wins this year. Federer is currently second with 51.

Players With 50+ Match Wins in 2019

Most Career 50 Win Seasons

– Statistical assistance from Greg Sharko

Rafael Nadal extended his mastery against Stan Wawrinka on Thursday at the Rolex Paris Masters, beating the Swiss 6-4, 6-4 to make his seventh ATP Masters 1000 Paris quarter-final.

Nadal now leads their FedEx ATP Head2Head series 19-3 and has won their past six meetings, dating back to the 2015 Nitto ATP Finals. The Spaniard also clinched his 11^th 50-win season with the straight-sets victory.

“My serve worked well and the volley, too. I have been going to the net a couple of times, serve and volley. I think I have been focussed and tried to hold the serve during the whole time,” said Nadal, who won all 10 of his net points.

“I think my game worked well. On the return today, [it] was a little bit difficult. I think I didn’t return as well as I was doing previous days… But it’s true that Stan always has a good serve and [is] difficult to read. So [it was] an important victory for me, honestly, against a tough opponent again.”

The World No. 2 broke the 16th-seeded Wawrinka in the third game and escaped danger on his own serve by erasing a break point in the eighth game. Both players gave away little in the third-round clash that saw a combined 37 winners to 32 unforced errors.

But Wawrinka, who would have qualified for the Nitto ATP Finals had he won the tournament, didn’t see another break point the rest of the way and was broken during a loose service game at 4-4 in the second set. Nadal also won all 10 of his net points.

The 33-year-old Spaniard is looking to finish as year-end No. 1 in the ATP Rankings for the fifth time. He will guarantee that milestone if he wins three more matches and wins the Paris Masters 1000 for the first time, which would be a record-extending 36th Masters 1000 crown.

Next, Nadal will meet France’s Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, who saved two match points to beat German Jan-Lennard Struff 2-6, 6-4, 7-6(6). Struff led 6/4 in the third-set tie-break, but Tsonga kept his nerve while hitting a crosscourt volley to make it 5/6.

Struff then netted a backhand and an overhead to give Tsonga a match point, which he seized to reach his seventh quarter-final of the season and first Masters 1000 quarter-final since 2016 Paris.

“It was a very tight match. It could have been the opposite scenario, it was only a few points in a row. I’m very satisfied with my match. He played very well,” Tsonga said.

The 2008 champion is going for his third title of the season but trails Nadal 4-9 in their FedEx ATP Head2Head series.

“These matches make you improve. When you play the best, it’s always beneficial and it’s not important whether you win or lose. When you play Rafa in the first round, it’s a problem. If you play Rafa in the quarter-finals, it’s normal,” Tsonga said. “Of course, it’s better for me to meet Rafa in quarter-finals after having played a few matches rather than during the first round.”

Denis Shapovalov is playing his best tennis just in time for next week’s Next Gen ATP Finals in Milan. The 20-year-old Canadian earned his third Top 10 win and second of 2019 on Thursday, fighting past Nitto ATP Finals qualifier Alexander Zverev 6-2, 5-7, 6-2 to reach the Rolex Paris Masters quarter-finals.

The match featured 30 break points, but Shapovalov came through the most, converting five of his 17 chances against Zverev, who secured his third consecutive trip to the Nitto ATP Finals, to be held 10-17 November at The O2 in London, on Wednesday.

On 20 October, Shapovalov won his first ATP Tour title at the Intrum Stockholm Open and now he’s into his fourth Masters 1000 quarter-final and second of the season (Miami). The left-hander will next face France’s Gael Monfils or Radu Albot of Moldova.

Shapovalov will be making his second appearance at the Next Gen ATP Finals, which starts Tuesday at the Allianz Cloud in Milan.

#NextGenATP Norwegian Casper Ruud’s career is young. But it’s clear that the 20-year-old’s best surface at the moment is clay. He has won more than 60 per cent of his matches on the dirt compared to just 36 per cent on hard courts, and he has not yet earned a victory on grass.

Although some may see that as a weakness for Ruud, the first-time Next Gen ATP Finals qualifier embraces it as a strength. He wants to be the next clay king.

“I’ve always looked up to Rafa a lot and players like him and Thiem, they play with great intensity and in some matches. When you look at them, they’ve kind of already won the match, it seems like, before they walk on the court because their opponent knows it’s going to be so tough to beat them on clay,” Ruud said. “That’s a point I would like to get to in my career. When I step on a clay court, [I want] the guy on the other side of the net to think, ‘Oh, this guy is a really, really good player and I’ll have to play my best tennis for three hours if I’ll have a chance to beat him.’”

The way Ruud sees it, he is more comfortable on clay than most #NextGenATP players.

“I feel like I’m one of the younger guys who maybe prefers to play on clay over hard court… I think it’s a good opportunity for me to be able to do well on clay courts the next, hopefully, 15 years because none of the new ones, except Thiem, who is a little older than us, has done unbelievably good on clay yet,” Ruud said. “I’m thinking that could be an open spot to be a new ‘clay-court guy’ among the Next Gen.”

Ruud, who made the 2017 Rio de Janeiro semi-finals just two months after his 18th birthday, got a chance to flex his clay muscles at Roland Garros this year, making the third round of a major for the first time. But across the net stood 2009 champion Roger Federer, who admitted before the match that he knew more about Ruud’s father — former World No. 39 Christian Ruud — than he did about the #NextGenATP star. Federer won in straight sets, with the third set going to a tie-break.

“I like a lot in his game. Today I saw the clay-courter. But I’m sure he’s also got the hard-court game in him, and I think he’s going to be obviously easily [reach the] Top 50, Top 20, hopefully soon,” Federer said. “From then on, anything is possible at some stage once you get in the Top 20.”

Ruud began training at the Rafa Nadal Academy by Movistar last July, and he climbed to a career-high of No. 54 in the ATP Rankings just more than a year later. Nadal’s best friend, Tomeu Silva, who has travelled with Nadal himself and Jaume Munar, has also spent some time with Ruud.

The Norwegian has shown in 2019 that he is capable of good results on hard courts, not just clay, making the quarter-finals in St. Petersburg, where he fell in three sets against eventual finalist Borna Coric.

“I like to go around and play heavy on the forehand, which obviously bites more on clay and it’s harder to receive a heavy ball on clay than on hard court,” Ruud said. “It’s not like I feel uncomfortable on hard courts or anything like that, but I think we just figured out that clay is maybe the surface that fits my game the most for now.”

Christian Ruud, who has climbed higher in the ATP Rankings than any other player in Norway’s history, knows that his son must continue raising his level on other surfaces if he is to continue his ascent on the ATP Tour.

“I think that his goal is to become a top player, and I think he’s dreaming about No. 1 in the world and you have to play well on all the surfaces to do that,” Christian said. “This year the goal was to be Top 100 when we started the year and it was natural for him to pick mostly clay when he had the chance because maybe he has [a better] chance to do well there. But he is showing me that he could also play well on hard courts.”

One of the reasons for Ruud’s 2019 success — and Milan qualification — was his consistency. After making the Rio de Janeiro semi-finals in February 2017, he could not maintain the momentum for the rest of the year, failing to win an ATP Tour match after Barcelona in April. This year, he has earned 22 of his 39 career tour-level wins, including a trip to his maiden ATP Tour final in Houston.

“I think his lowest level has come up a lot. He’s been playing a lot better at ATP events and winning a lot more matches and also beating decent players when he’s not been playing his best, so I think his high level has increased as well as his low level,” Christian said. “I think it’s sometimes difficult when you’re very young and do good results. You have one week where everything is working, like in Rio in 2017… it came a little bit quick. There are still a lot of good players on the Challenger Tour.

“I think this year has been more consistent. He’s just been learning more and getting more experience and everything has improved.”

Ruud will hope that translates to Milan. And although the season-ending 21-and-under event is contested on an indoor hard court, the Norwegian is plenty excited to test himself against the world’s best #NextGenATP stars. He even feels that since it’s not on clay, he’ll be able to play with his “shoulders down”, and not feel as much pressure.

“I’m feeling like I’m close to achieving big results, even on hard courts,” Ruud said. “So I just have to keep on training hard and staying focussed and doing the right things and I think good things can happen.”