As the top 10 players jostle for position for the ATP Finals in Turin, Australia’s Jordan Thompson has made a strong start to the Paris Masters, beating Spain’s Pedro Martinez Portero 6-4 6-4.
Thompson, No.28 in the world, will face No.7 seed Casper Ruud in the second round after his victory at the Accor Arena on Monday.
Thompson, 30, will not be heading to Turin but he is ending the year strongly: he is inside the world top 30 for singles and has a US Open doubles triumph alongside fellow Aussie Max Purcell in September.
The Sydneysider fired down nine aces and broke the Spaniard’s serve in each set, while never dropping his own.
On court in Paris on Tuesday, Alex de Minaur will continue his dogged pursuit of a place in the end-of-season finale in Turin, from November 10-17, against Mariano Navone of Argentina.
De Minaur is seeded ninth in Paris and is also ninth in the chase for qualification for Turin. After reaching the semi-finals in Vienna last week, he has closed the gap to less than 200 points on Andrey Rublev, who occupies the eighth and final qualifying spot.
Fellow Aussie Alexei Popyrin will also play on Tuesday, against Italy’s Matteo Berrettini, the world No.36.
Meanwhile, Alexander Zverev, the No.3 seed in Paris, announced on Monday that he will not play for Germany in next month’s Davis Cup Finals because he wants an extended period of rest ahead of the 2025 season.
Zverev has suffered from injuries this year and was recently also diagnosed with pneumonia after complaining about lung problems. He will play in Turin, but that will be his last 2024 event.
The Davis Cup Finals are scheduled for November 19-24 in Malaga, but Zverev said he won’t be there. His 2025 season starts on December 29 at the United Cup in Australia when defending champions Germany play Brazil.
“I’ve been forced to make the difficult decision to end the season after the ATP Finals so that I have enough time to recover and be back at 100% for the United Cup and the Australian Open,” Zverev said.
“It was a very challenging season in which I had to play through a knee injury in order to be able to take part in the Olympic Games.
“Now I’m doing my best to finish the season well despite problems with my lung.”
Novak Djokovic has already withdrawn from the Paris Masters, casting doubt on his availability for Turin.
The four qualifiers so far for Turin are Jannik Sinner, Carlos Alcaraz, Zverev and Daniil Medvedev.
Also in Paris on Monday, local favourite Hugo Humbert put out Brandon Nakashima of the United States 6-3 4-6 6-4. He will take on another American player, Marcos Giron, who defeated Shang Juncheng in two tie-break sets.
Dutchman Tallon Griekspoor advanced with a 6-3 6-4 win over Luciano Darderi, to set up a clash with Zverev, and Tomas Martin Etcheverry of Argentina beat Zhang Zhizhen 6-3 7-6 (8-6). Etcheverry will face Grigor Dimitrov.
With agencies
Content Source: www.perthnow.com.au