Paris. Carlos Alcaraz overcame some awkward moments on his serve to beat Chile’s Nicolas Jarry 7-5, 6-1 to reach the third round of the Paris Masters tennis tournament. Alcaraz, the second-seeded Spanish player, struggled at times with Jarry’s strong forehand. The Chilean player broke his serve in the ninth game and leveled the score at 5-5. But Jerry double faulted in his next service game and lost the first set.
“It was a little difficult,” Alcaraz said after the match. Really happy to win the first set. I have to adjust to the pace of the court. It’s really fast for me.” Four-time Grand Slam champion Alcaraz is looking for her fifth title of the year. He will next face 15th seed Ugo Humbert or American qualifier Marcos Giron. Tenth seed Stefanos Tsitsipas of Greece kept alive his hopes of qualifying for the ATP Finals, the final tournament of the year, by defeating Alejandro Tabilo 6-3, 6-4.
The top eight players participate in the ATP Finals. Three-time Grand Slam runner-up and seventh seed Casper Ruud of Norway failed to take advantage of a good start and lost to unseeded Jordan Thompson of Australia 7-6 (3), 3-6, 6-4. Russia’s sixth seed Andrey Rublev lost his cool as both sets went to tiebreakers and ultimately suffered defeat, dealing a blow to his hopes of qualifying for the ATP Finals. Francisco Cerundolo defeated him 7-6(6), 7-6(5).