Carlos Alcaraz moved past Nicolas Jarry 7-5 6-1 in 1 hour and 30 minutes to avenge a defeat against his Chilean rival, who won their previous head-to-head match 7-5 6-3 in the semifinal in Buenos Aires last February. Alcaraz converted four of his six break points.
Alcaraz will face either Ugo Humbert or Marcos Giron in the third round.
Alcaraz reeled off five consecutive points from 0-40 to break Jarry’s serve in the second game and held serve at 15 to race out to a 3-0 lead. Jarry broke back in the ninth game and held serve to consolidate the break for 5-5, when Alcaraz was serving for the set. Alcaraz earned his second break to claim the first set 7-5.
Jarry earned four break points in the second game of the second set, but Alcaraz saved them. The four-time Grand Slam champion earned two breaks in the fourth and sixth games to seal the win.
Alcaraz leads 3-1 in his head-to-head matches against Jarry.
“I think I played really good tennis in the first set, but at the end it was complicated. I am just really happy to get through the opening set, it was really important to come into the second set with more confidence. I need to get used to the speed of the court. It’s been two years since I have been two years since I have won a match here in Paris Bercy, so everytime that I keep going is a gift for me”, said Alcaraz.
Francisco Cerundolo came back from a break down in both sets to beat Andrey Rublev 7-6 (7-5) 7-6 (7-5) in 2 hours and 18 minutes. Cerundolo improved to a 3-1 lead in their head-to-head matches. The Argentine player scored the fourth win in seven matches against a top 10 opponent in 2024.
Cerundolo set up a third round match against Stefanos Tsitsipas, who beat Alejandro Tabilo 6-3 6-4. Tsitsipas won the first set 6-3 with his only break in the eighth game. Tsitsipas broke in the third game to take a 2-1 lead. Tabilo converted his fourth break-back point in the fourth game to draw level to 2-2. Tsitsipas earned the decisive break in the ninth game and served out the win in the 10th game on his second match point.
Alex De Minaur beat Mariano Navone 7-5 6-1 in 89 minutes to reach the second round. De Minaur converted his third break point and held serve to take a 3-0 lead. The Australian player saved two break points in the seventh game to hold serve for 5-2. Navone pulled back on serve on his third break point. De Minaur broke for the second time in the 12th game to close out the first set 7-5.
De Minaur broke twice in the second and fourth games to race out to a 5-0 lead and served out the win on his first match point. De Minaur, who is ranked ninth in the ATP Live Race to Turin, has moved to within 125 points of eighth placed Andrey Rublev.
Last week’s Basel Swiss Indoors finalist Ben Shelton beat Corentin Moutet 6-3 6-7 (8-10) 6-3. Shelton earned his first break in the sixth game to win the first set 6-3. The second set went on serve en route to the tie-break. Moutet went up a mini-break twice in the tie-break, but Shelton pulled back on serve both times. Shelton earned two match points, but Moutet saved them and won the final two points to win the tie-break 10-8. De Minaur converted his third break point in the eighth game and served out the win on his first match point.
Jack Draper beat Jiri Lehecka 7-5 6-2. Draper claimed the first break in the 11th game to win the first set 7-5. The British player broke twice in the fifth and seventh games to close out the second set 6-2.
Jan Lennard Struff beat Olympic bronze medallist and last week’s Vienna ATP 500 semifinalist Lorenzo Musetti 6-4 6-2 after 77 minutes in the opening round of the Paris Masters 1000 tournament ending. This defeat ended Musetti’s hopes of playing at the Nitto ATP Finals in Turin.
Struff hit nine aces and won 82% of his first serve points. The German player hit 29 winners to 28 unforced errors.
Struff saved an early break point in the first game of the opening set. Musetti earned the first break at 15 in the fifth game to take a 3-2 lead. Struff broke back at love in the eighth game to draw level to 4-4. The German player earned another break on his first set point with a forehand return in the 10th game to win the opening set 6-4.
Struff saved two break points in the third game of the second set with an ace. Stuff earned his first break in the fifth game with a forehand return. Musetti saved a break point in the sixth game. Struff sealed the win with another break on the first match point.
This year’s Toronto Masters 1000 champion Alexei Popyrin edged past Matteo Berrettini 7-5 7-6 (7-2).
Popyrin saved a total of three break points (one in the fifth game and two in the seventh game). The Australian player earned his first break point in the eighth game, but Berrettini saved it. Popyrin saved the second break point with an ace in the 11th game before breaking serve on his second set point in the 12thgame to close out the first set 7-5. Berrettini held serve in the first game of the second set before breaking serve in the third game to take a 2-1 lead with a passing shot. The Italian player saved two break points from 15-40 down by winning four consecutive points to hold serve in the fourth game. Berrettini rallied from 0-40 to 30-40 as he was serving for the set, but Popyrin converted his third break-back point to draw level to 5-5. Popyrin earned two mini-breaks on his first and seventh games to win the tie-break 7-2.
Number 11 seed Holger Rune beat Matteo Arnaldi 6-4 6-4 in 1 hour and 31 minutes. Rune, who won won the Paris Bercy title in 2022, will face Alexander Bublik in the second round.
Rune saved three break points in the second game and one more break point in the fourth game. The Danish player broke serve in the ninth game to take a 5-4 lead and served out the first set at deuce in the 10th game.
Rune broke serve in the fifth game of the second set to take a 3-2 lead. The Dane saved a break-back point in the eighth point and served out on his second match point in the 10th game.
Alex Michelsen cruised past Hubert Hurkacz 6-1 6-3 to reach the second round. Hurkacz’s hopes of qualifying for the Nitto ATP Finals in Turin came to an end. Michelsen will take on Frenchman Arthur Rinderknech in the second round. The US player, who reachd two finals in Newport and Winston Salem in 2024, is currently second in the Next Gen ATP Live Race to Jeddah.
