From Minaur he moved to Navone in Paris, he is excited about Turin | ATP Tour

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From Minaur he moved to Navone in Paris, he is excited about Turin

The champion in 2022 Rune also advances. Ruud, eliminated

October 29, 2024

Álex de Minaur shows no signs of backing down in the fight to qualify for the Nitto ATP Finals for the first time.

The ninth seed finished with class on Tuesday to defeat Mariano Navone 7-5, 6-1 and advance to the second round of the Rolex Paris Masters. After a nervous ending to the first set, De Minaur won the second, almost seamlessly, in 89 minutes.

De Minaur’s great season, in which he has won two ATP Tour titles and reached the Np. 6 in the PIF ATP Rankings, could culminate with his debut in the season-ending tournament. The Australian, who is currently ninth in the PIF ATP Live Race To Turin, has moved 125 points behind eighth-placed Andrey Rublev, eliminated by Francisco Cerúndolo on Tuesday in Paris.

De Minaur, who will surpass Rublev if he advances to the quarterfinals, will next face lucky loser Miomir Kecmanovic. He also has a great chance of overtaking No. 7 in the Race to Turin, the Norwegian Casper Ruud, who only has 260 more points and lost this Tuesday in Paris.

Ruud, No. 8 in the PIF ATP Rankings, was surprised by another Australian, Jordan Thompson, who won with sets of 7-6(3), 3-6, 6-4 to put the Norwegian’s qualification at risk at his first Nitto ATP Finals since being a tournament finalist in 2022 (l. to Djokovic).

Meanwhile, the Rolex Paris Masters brings back great memories for Holger Rune. In this scenario, two seasons ago, the Dane won the most important trophy of his career and this Tuesday he opened his third participation with victory at the ATP Masters 1000 in Paris-Bercy.

The No. 13 seed defeated the Italian Matteo Arnaldi in the first round in Paris 6-4, 6-4 in one hour and 29 minutes, confirming his good harmony with the surface.

Rune is the second player with the most wins on indoor hard courts in the last two seasons, with a record of 39-15, which is only surpassed by Felix Auger-Aliassime (49-14). The 21-year-old Dane has won Stockholm and Paris in these conditions.

In this edition of his ‘favorite’ ATP Masters 1000, he will try to repeat his good performances from previous years (champion in 2022 and quarterfinals in 2023) and to do so he will have to overcome Alexander Bublik in the second round.

In other results of the day, the Greek Stefanos Tsitsipas defeated the Chilean Alejandro Tabilo 6-3, 6-4 and will now face the Argentine Francisco Cerúndolo. The eleventh seed leads the Lexus ATP HeadToHead 1-0 between them after winning a few days ago in the third set tie-break in Basel.

Did you know that…?

Holger Rune has a record of 9 wins in 10 matches played at the Rolex Paris Masters. The 2022 champion has only lost one match in this ATP Masters 1000, against Novak Djokovic in the 2023 quarterfinals by 5-7, 7-6(3), 4-6.