Bopanna-Ebden advance to quarterfinals of Paris masters

Paris, October 30: Veteran Indian tennis player Rohan Bopanna and his Australian partner Matthew Ebden advanced to the quarterfinals of the men’s doubles event of the Paris Masters here.

The Indo Australian pair eked out a 6-4 7-6 win over the Brazilian-German combine of Marcelo Melo and Alexander Zverev in one hour 16 minutes at the ATP 1000 event on Tuesday.

Bopanna and Ebden won 91 per cent of their first serve and hit four aces in the course of the match.

The third seed Ind-Australian duo made a crucial break in the first game to take the opening set.

The reigning Australian Open champions then had the opportunity to break their opponents in the fifth game of the second set but Melo and Zverev managed to hold with the match heading to a tie-breaker.

Earlier this week, Bopanna and Ebden had clinched a spot in the prestigious season-ending ATP Finals.

Alcaraz wins Paris Masters opener with dazzling performance

World number two Carlos Alcaraz opened his account at the Paris Masters with a convincing 7-5 6-1 second round victory over Nicolas Jarry on Tuesday.

Alcaraz, who perished at the same stage last year, breezed past the Chilean by hitting 13 winners and only six unforced errors.

“It’s always hard to compare your tennis year to year, but I am in a much better state mentally,” Alcaraz told a press conference.

“I do want to play at my best level at this part of the season. I’m motivated to win this tournament, to make good results. Last year the court was probably slower but it’s difficult to compare.”

The Spaniard will be looking to close the 4300-point gap on world number one Jannik Sinner, who withdrew from the tournament due to a virus.

“It’s never good news when the best player in the world withdraws from a tournament. I wouldn’t meet him before the final but I love to see him playing as a tennis fan,” Alcaraz added.

With reigning champion Novak Djokovic also out of the tournament, French Open and Wimbledon champion Alcaraz will eager to win his fifth title this year.

In the earlier matches, Briton Jack Draper beat Czech Jiri Lehecka 7-5 6-2, Dane 13th seed Holger Rune edged Italian Matteo Arnaldi 6-4 6-4 and Australian ninth seed Alex de Minaur dispatched Mariano Navone 7-5 6-1.

American Alex Michelsen saw off 12th seed Hubert Hurkacz 6-1 6-3.

Other seeds also knocked out of the indoor tournament were Russian sixth seed Andrey Rublev, beaten 7-6(6) 7-6(5) by Argentine Francisco Cerundolo, and 14th seed Frances Tiafoe. He was ousted by Frenchman Giovanni Mpetshi Perricar 6-7(5) 7-6(4) 6-3.

In the later matches, 10th seed Stefanos Tsitsipas of Greece recorded a comfortable 6-3 6-4 win over Alejandro Tabilo before Australian Jordan Thompson defeated seventh seed Casper Rudd 7-6(3) 3-6 6-4. (PTI/Reuters)