The opening round at the 2023 Rolex Paris Masters is complete and featured several competitive matches as players make a last-ditch bid to qualify for the season-ending championships in Turin.
Sascha Zverev is one such player, and he bolstered his hopes of making the ATP finals with a hard-fought 4-6, 7-5, 6-4 win over qualifier Marton Fucsovics.
Hubert Hurkacz sits two spots behind Zverev in the live race rankings, occupying 9th spot, and he’s into round 2 thanks to a win over Sebastian Korda in a tough three-set encounter to also keep his hopes alive.
Alongside younger Turin hopefuls, there were early exits for the elder statesmen on tour as Andy Murray and Stan Wawrinka both failed to convert a match point before suffering tough losses.
More bad news followed for the veteran class as Richard Gasquet then bowed out to Tommy Paul, also failing to convert match points, with the American saving three of them en route to a third-set tiebreak win.
The only two seeds to fall in the opening round were Frances Tiafoe, who’s in a poor run of form, and fellow American Ben Shelton, who looked to be struggling with his ankle after a hectic schedule in recent weeks that started in Tokyo, stopped off in Basel and then ended in Paris.
You can see the whole round of sixty-four results below.
Round of 64 Rolex Paris Masters Results
Winner
Loser
Scoreline
Taylor Fritz (9)
Sebastian Baez
6-1 6-4
Alexander Zverev (10)
Marton Fucsovics (Q)
4-6 7-5 6-4
Hubert Hurkacz (11)
Sebastian Korda
6-3 6-7(6) 6-3
Tommy Paul (12)
Richard Gasquet (WC)
0-6 6-2 7-6(6)
Alex de Minaur (13)
Andy Murray
7-6(5) 4-6 7-5
Alexander Bublik
Frances Tiafoe (14)
6-3 6-4
Alejandro Davidovich Fokina
Ben Shelton (15)
7-6(4) 5-7 6-3
Karen Khachanov (16)
Max Purcell
6-4 6-4
Daniel Altmaier
Arthur Fils
6-2 6-4
Felix Auger-Aliassime
Jan-Lennard Struff
7-6(3) 6-4
Roberto Bautista Agut
Jiri Lehecka
6-4 6-2
Grigor Dimitrov
Lorenzo Musetti
6-2 6-7(4) 6-3
Francisco Cerundolo
Gael Monfils
4-6 7-6(2) 7-5
Laslo Djere
Luca Van Assche (WC)
6-7(6) 6-4 6-4
Tomas Martin Etcheverry
Miomir Kecmanovic
4-6 7-6(6) 6-4
Tallon Griekspoor
Christopher Eubanks
6-7(2) 6-3 6-4
Ugo Humbert
Marcos Giron (Q)
6-4 6-3
Nicolas Jarry
Alexei Popyrin
7-5 7-6(6)
Dusan Lajovic (LL)
Benjamin Bonzi (WC)
7-5 6-3
Mackenzie McDonald
J.J. Wolf (Q)
1-6 6-4 6-2
Yoshihito Nishiokac (Q)
Jordan Thompson (LL)
7-6(5) 4-6 6-2
Roman Safiullin (Q)
Alexandre Muller (WC)
7-6(4) 6-3
Dominic Thiem (Q)
Stan Wawrinka
3-6 6-3 7-5
Botic van de Zandschulp (Q)
Adrian Mannarino
6-4 7-5
Murray Yet Again Falls to De Minaur
Andy Murray has been a ‘bogey’ player for several of his opponents over the years, but now he’s on the receiving end regarding Alex de Minaur.
The Aussie has won all their six encounters, saving a match point at 4-5 30/40 to defeat the 2016 champion 7-6(5), 4-6, 7-5.
In an inexplicable loss, Murray blew a 5-2 lead in the third set after dominating play, which led to him smashing a racket.
During his post-match press conference, Murray gave a depressing assessment:
It’s frustrating. I’m not really enjoying it just now in terms of how I feel on the court and how I’m playing.
The last five, or six months haven’t been that enjoyable, so I need to try and find some of that enjoyment back because playing a match like that there’s not much positivity there. When I play a good point, I’m not really getting behind myself. In the important moments that will to win and fight has always been a big part of my game. What happened today, I don’t remember it happening before, that’s not really me. The way that I’m feeling and playing on the court – I haven’t felt good about my game for large parts of this year.
You obviously want to be seeing progress and feeling like you’re getting closer to something and I haven’t really felt like that. There were a few small signs in the summer over in the States but certainly nothing that’s been sustainable or consistent. The last few months it’s been more like that. I hadn’t really felt like that up until the last few months.
Sometimes you play really well in practice and it doesn’t necessarily translate onto the match court, but you at least feel like you’re getting somewhere. Whereas for the most part in practice, it’s not been great. A lot of frustration there in training, and that’s kind of carrying over into the matches.
If I want to keep going, I’m going to need a lot of work. It’s not just going to be one or two weeks of training to get me to where I need to get to, it’s going to have to be a lot of work and consistent work to give myself a chance. Murray on his loss to de Minaur.
Thiem Tops Wawrinka
Stan Wawrinka recently revealed he’s felt tired, almost broken, in the last few weeks, both mentally and physically.
Unfortunately, things didn’t improve for him in Paris as he fell to Dominic Thiem in a poorly scheduled match that ended at 2:30 a.m.
Thiem saved a match point at 3-5 in the third set before winning four straight games for a place in the second round.
The last two years I have lost more close matches than I have won, so this one is very, very important for me. The tennis has been getting better since Vienna. I beat two great guys in the qualies and now Stan in a match after saving match point, so it gives me a huge boost. Thiem on a much needed win
Dimitrov Flashes Past Musetti
Dimitrov and Musetti were relegated to Court 1 in Bercy but arguably put on the most exciting match of Round 1, with both guys producing some stunning shot-making throughout the 2-hour and 18-minute clash.
Dimitrov has been enjoying somewhat of a career revival in recent weeks, and although he’s not yet back to winning titles, his level of tennis has been much improved.
It was only a minor blip that stopped him from serving out the second set before losing it on a tiebreak. However, he regrouped quickly to break early in the third and dictated with his forehand to move into the last 32.
Other Matches of Note
Fritz keeps alive Turin Hopes: A good win against Seb Baez, but the American has subsequently withdrawn from this 2nd round match with an abdomen injury.
Bublik Bumps Tiafoe: The season’s end looks like it can’t come quick enough for Frances after his poor run of form continued.
Zverev Foils Fucsovics: The German recovered from a slow start to see off qualifier Fucsovics 4-6, 7-5, 6-4.
Auger-Aliassime Maintains New Found Form: After a string of disappointing results for most of this season, the Canadian turned his fortunes around in Basel, and he’s continued his winning run here, seeing off the big-hitting Struff 7-6(3) 6-4.
Paris Masters Round of 32 Matches
Novak Djokovic (1) vs Tomas Martin Etcheverry
Tallon Griekspoor vs Alejandro Davidovich Fokina
Taylor Fritz vs Daniel Altmaier (Walkover)
Dominic Thiem (Q) vs Holger Rune (6)
Jannik Sinner (4) vs Mackenzie McDonald
Dusan Lajovic vs Alex de Minaur (13)
Tommy Paul (12) vs Botic van de Zandschulp (Q)
Yoshihito Nishioka (Q) vs Andrey Rublev (5)
Casper Ruud (8) vs Francisco Cerundolo
Roberto Bautista Agut vs Hubert Hurkacz (11)
Alexander Bublik vs Nicolas Jarry
Grigor Dimitrov vs Daniil Medvedev (3)
Stefanos Tsitsipas (7) vs Felix Auger-Aliassime
Ugo Humbert vs Alexander Zverev (10)
Karen Khachanov (16) vs Laslo Djere
Roman Safiullin (Q) vs Carlos Alcaraz (2)
Which matches have you enjoyed so far in Paris, if any? Who are your picks to make the top eight in the live race? Let me know in the comments.