De Minaur denies Diallo's upset bid in Paris, keeping Turin chances on track
Alex de Minaur fought off an early scare Wednesday at the Rolex Paris Masters to continue his pursuit of Nitto ATP Finals qualification.
Holding his ground at seventh in the PIF ATP Live Race To Turin, De Minaur overcame hefty-serving Gabriel Diallo 7-6(8), 4-6, 6-3 after a topsy-turvy two hours and 37 minutes.
A tight first-set tie-break told the story of the match. While Diallo grabbed early momentum by storming to a 5/0 lead, De Minaur captured five consecutive points to again apply pressure on the upset-hunting Canadian.
Diallo held three set points in the tie-break — including two on his serve — yet De Minaur’s defensive prowess forced repeated forehand errors from the 24-year-old. The Canadian finished with 66 unforced errors, including 36 from his forehand, four more than De Minaur’s 32 total unforced errors.
De Minaur is aiming to secure a spot at the Turin season finale, which runs from 9-16 November. Boasting a season-leading 41 hard-court match wins, the 26-year-old is just 35 points behind sixth-placed Ben Shelton, who is still alive in Paris. Italian Lorenzo Sonego upset countryman and eight-placed Lorenzo Musetti 3-6, 6-3, 6-1 Wednesday.
Up next for De Minaur is 10th seed Karen Khachanov, who won his biggest career title at the Rolex Paris Masters in 2018. Khachanov has won two of his three Lexus ATP Head2Head meetings against De Minaur.
Did You Know?
De Minaur is the fourth man since 2016 to reach the Round of 16 of at least eight of the season’s nine ATP Masters 1000 events. Milos Raonic (2016), Rafael Nadal (2017), Alexander Zverev (2024) also achieved the feat.
Watch Extended Highlights from Wednesday’s action in Paris: