Jannik Sinner's pursuit of the first place in the ATP ranking, which he held until September but which he had to leave to his rival Carlos Alcaraz, continues well: the Spaniard was however eliminated prematurely at the Masters 1000 tournament underway in Paris Bercy, while the South Tyrolean made it through another round by winning – with a bit of suffering in the first set – against Argentine Francisco Cerundolo in two sets (7-5, 6-1) and thus qualified for the quarterfinals, scheduled for Friday 31 October at 7 pm. Cerundolo is currently number 21 in the world and before this match he had not had such a poor record in matches played against Sinner: he was trailing 3-2 in the head-to-head matches, having nevertheless won in the round of 16 of the Rome tournament in 2023 and, the year before, in the quarterfinals of the Miami Masters 1000.
To access the semi-final and then possibly the final (to return to number 1 he necessarily needs to win the tournament) Sinner will have to face the American Ben Shelton, who has had an excellent season that is likely securing him a spot at the ATP Finals in Turin in a few weeks. The American, in turn, defeated Russian Andrey Rublev in straight sets, 7-6, 6-3. It wasn't the best version of Jannik Sinner, especially in the first set, but it was enough to reach the quarterfinals for the first time in his career at the final Masters 1000 of the season, the one in Paris Bercy. The indoor winning streak extends to 23 successes, with his last defeat dating back to the final of the 2023 ATP Finals at the hands of Novak Djokovic. The other Italian still in the round of 16, Lorenzo Sonego, who had eliminated Lorenzo Musetti in the Italian derby in the previous round, was defeated: Sonego was defeated in three sets by Russian Daniil Medvedev, after winning the first set.
