Mahut/Herbert Reach Paris QFs
Nicolas Mahut and Pierre-Hugues Herbert moved into the quarter-finals at the Rolex Paris Masters on Thursday, downing Ariel Behar and Gonzalo Escobar 7-6(6), 6-4.
The Frenchmen won the title as a team in 2019 and set the wheels in motion for a similar run this week, winning 85 per cent (35/41) of their first-serve points against Behar and Escobar to advance after 83 minutes.
The third seeds will next face Benjamin Bonzi and Arthur Rinderknech after the French pair upset eighth seeds Ivan Dodig and Marcelo Melo 6-4, 6-7(5), 12-10 in one hour and 44 minutes.
Top seeds Nikola Mektic and Mate Pavic were aiming to win their 10th tour-level crown together as a team this season in Paris, but lost to Sander Gille and Joran Vliegen, with the Belgians notching an impressive 6-3, 7-6(6) victory in 89 minutes.
[FOLLOW 1000]In a day of surprises, Tim Puetz and Michael Venus shocked second seeds Rajeev Ram and Joe Salisbury 7-6(12), 7-6(8) to advance after one hour and 57 minutes. The German-New Zealand team will next play Fabrice Martin and Andreas Mies after the unseeded pair moved past Kevin Krawietz and Horia Tecau 6-3, 6-3.
There were no such issues for fifth seeds Juan Sebastian Cabal and Robert Farah, with the Colombians moving past Daniel Evans and Neal Skupski 7-6(6), 7-5 in one hour and 48 minutes.
Cabal and Farah will next meet Jamie Murray and Bruno Soares. The British-Brazilian tandem produced a dominant performance to cruise past Roberto Bautista Agut and Alexander Bublik 6-1, 6-3.