World number 2 Jannik Sinner beat Francisco Cerundolo 7-5 6-1 in 1 hour and 25 minutes to reach the quarter final in Paris for the first time. He advanced to the 18th Masters 1000 quarter final of his career.
Sinner has extended his winning streak to 23 consecutive indoor matches. Sinner will move into world number 1 spot ahead of Carlos Alcaraz, who lost against Cameron Norrie in the second round.
Sinner converted five of his eight break points and dropped serve twice. The Italian player hit 22 winners to 23 unforced errors.
Both players traded four consecutive breaks in the middle of the first set to draw level o 4-4. After four consecutive holds Sinner converted a set point on return with a drop shot error from Cerundolo.
Sinner served well in the second set and broke serve with a forehand down the line winner on his second break point in a 10-minute game. The Australian Open and Wimbledon champion held at love to open up a 3-0 lead, but he wasted two more break points on return in the fourth game.
Sinner earned a break in the sixth game to race out to a 5-1 lead, when Cerundolo sprayed a forehand mistake. Sinner hit a service winner on the match point in the seventh game becoming the first Italian player to reach the quarter final in all nine Masters 1000 tournament.
Jannis Sinner: “I was up twice with the break in the first set and I could not convert. I put myself in not an easy situation, but I am happy with how I ended the match and I felt much better. Hopefully, it will give me the confidence to start off in a good way tomorrow. Hopefully, I can recover physically, which is my main priority. Today was a great match and a great performance from my side.”
Sinner ser uo a quarter final match against Ben Shelton, who beat Andrey Rublev 7-6 (8-6) 6-3 in 1 hour and 35 minutes to qualify for the Nitto ATP Finals fozfirst time . Shelton beat Sinner in Shanghai in 2023, but he has lost the six following matches.
Shelton, who retired at the US Open due to a shoulder injury, dropped 11 points in ten service games and did not face face any break points.
Shelton fired 27 service winners and made 13 unforced errors.
Shelton held serve at love in the 11th game with a forehand down the line. Rublev won his service game at love to set up a tie-break. Shelton earned two mini-breaks and earned three set points at 6-3. Rublev saved them to draw level to 6-6. Shelton hit a volley winner to take a 7-6 lead and earned a set point with a forehand down the line winner.
Both players held serve in the first six games of the second set, Shelton converted his third break point in the seventh game to take a 4-3 lead and held after deuces to take a 5-3 lead. The US player converted his third match point to reach the quarter fina.
