Paris Masters: Thompson Seizes Opportunity On The Seine

Jordan Thompson, Paris Masters
Jordan Thompson (photo: ATP Tour video)

PARIS/WASHINGTON, October 31, 2024 (by Michael Dickens)

With this week’s Rolex Paris Masters coming at the end of another long tennis season — the ninth and final ATP Masters 1000 event on the 2024 calendar — often, there are surprises that happen in Bercy. Sometimes, players pull out, while other times the draw opens up through upsets. One thing is certain: This is the time for players to seize opportunities.

Seizing opportunity is exactly what 28th-ranked Jordan Thompson has done this week at Accor Arena. The 30-year-old Australian from Sydney has strung together three straight wins in four days — two of them in straight sets. Suddenly, he finds himself positioned in the 26th and biggest ATP Tour quarterfinal of his career. It’s also his first ATP Masters 1000 quarterfinal.

Thompson’s 7-5, 7-6 (5) victory over No. 58 Adrian Mannarino of France in two hours and 20 minutes on Court Central Thursday afternoon advanced him into the last eight — and another big-court assignment awaits him on Friday — against No. 15 seed Ugo Humbert of France, the top-ranked Frenchman, who upset World No. 2 Carlos Alcaraz of Spain, 6-1, 3-6, 7-5, in two hours and 16 minutes Thursday evening. It also boosted Thompson’s ranking to a career-best No. 26 on the PIF ATP Live Rankings.

“It’s what we’ve been working toward, these big results, big tournaments,” Thompson said in his post-match interview with ATP Media. “It got a little bit squeezey at the end. I did well to turn it around. I got broken at 5-all and he had 6-5 (40-15). Actually, I probably found some of my best points and managed to sneak out a tiebreaker.”

Earlier this week, Thompson began his Paris run with a 6-4, 6-4 victory over No. 41 Pedro Martinez of Spain on Court 1 Monday to little fanfare. Then, he upset World No. 8 and seventh seed Casper Ruud of Norway, 7-6 (3), 3-6, 6-4, on Court Central Tuesday night to advance to the round of 16.

One of three Australians to reach the third round at Paris, the most in a round of 16 of any ATP Masters 1000 tournament since 2000 at Miami — when it was Lleyton Hewitt, Mark Philippousis and Patrick Rafter doing the honors — Thompson dug in deep against the 36-year-old Mannarino, who was attempting to reach his first ATP Masters 1000 quarterfinal in Bercy and third one overall. By the end, the two competitors had slogged through 161 points, with Thompson coming out slightly ahead, 87-74. However, Thompson hit 22 winners, converted three of five break points and won 89 percent of his first-serve points against Mannarino.

It’s been a rewarding season for Thompson, who won his first ATP Tour singles title at Los Cabos and teamed with Max Purcell to win the US Open doubles title. The Aussie pair have already qualified for the Nitto ATP Finals in Turin. They are seeded fourth this week in Paris and, a couple of hours after winning his singles match, Thompson and Purcell advanced to the doubles quarterfinals with a 6-7 (7), 7-6 (5), 10-8 comeback victory over Santiago Gonzalez of Mexico and Edouard Roger-Vasselin of France that lasted one hour and 55 minutes.

After mastering Ruud, Thompson was asked during his post-match interview what’s been most rewarding for him in 2024 and how did he improve his game on order to achieve that result.

“I think most pleasing is the singles title,” Thompson told ATP Media. “Most [players] go through their career without even making a final. … “The doubles is just helping my singles game. You’ve got no space to hit it into in doubles, especially on the returns. When I get out [on court] in singles, I feel like I’ve got an ocean of space. It frees me up a little bit.”

Around the Rolex Paris Masters

With three remaining spots still up for grabs to qualify for next month’s Nitto ATP Finals, No. 9 seed Alex de Minaur of Australia took on No. 15 Jack Draper, who came into their round of 16 tussle riding high on a seven-match winning streak including an ATP 500 title in Vienna last Sunday.

The Australian would pass Russia’s Andrey Rublev to take the No. 8 spot with a win Thursday as he seeks first Nitto ATP Finals appearance — and he did just that. De Minaur prevailed 5-7, 6-2, 6-3 in two hours and five minutes on Court 1 for his 47th victory of the season. He converted six of nine break points and outpointed Draper 89-75.

“You can never say ‘job done’ in the middle of a tournament, that’s not in my DNA,” De Minaur said afterward in a court side interview with ATP Media. “Obviously I’m super stoked with the win today, but I will keep on doing my best and keep on trying to win more matches.

“It took every ounce from me and I am just happy I was able to rally. I’m going to put my body on the line, try my hardest, show my opponent that I can do that all day. I needed to bring that intensity because Jack is a hell of a competitor, playing with so much confidence right now.”

In the quarterfinal round, de Minaur will play No. 13 seed Holger Rune of Denmark, who overcame 85th-ranked French lucky loser Arthur Cazaux, 3-6, 6-3, 6-4, in two hours and five minutes on Court 1 Thursday evening. The World No. 13 hit 14 aces and struck 28 winners in collecting his 44th victory of the season.

Meanwhile, Grigor Dimitrov of Bulgaria and Stefanos Tsitsipas of Greece also took to the court on Thursday as each looked to continue their respective runs in Paris to remain in contention in the PIF ATP Live Race To Turin competition.

Tsitsipas, who needs to reach the final to stay in the chase for his sixth consecutive Nitto ATP Finals appearance, advanced to the Paris quarterfinals for the fourth time in seven appearances with a 6-7 (1), 6-4, 6-2 win over No. 29 Francisco Cerundolo of Argentina that stretched over two hours and 21 minutes on Court Central. Tsitsipas overcame 41 unforced errors to hit 23 winners. He outpointed Cerundolo 103-90, and will meet World No. 3 Alexander Zverev Friday in the last eight.

The third seed from Germany fired 16 aces and held off a late charge by No. 20 Arthur Fils of France by saving three break points while serving for the match to win 6-4, 3-6, 6-3, in two hours and nine minutes on Court Central. The victory improved Zverev’s head-to-head against Fils to 3-1.

“I am happy I hung in there today. It was a great match,” Zverev said in his in-court interview with ATP Media. “He is a great player and has improved a lot this year. I am looking forward to the next few battles we are going to have.”

Also, No. 21 Karen Khachanov of Russia improved to 11-1 in the past three weeks and advanced to his third quarterfinal in three weeks with a 7-6 (5), 6-4 win over No. 24 Alexei Popyrin of Australia in one hour and 56 minutes on Court 1. Khachanov began the day as one of two former Paris champions remaining. Now, he’s through to his ninth ATP Masters 1000 quarterfinal.

Next, Khachanov will face the No. 8 seed Dimitrov, who defeated No. 60 Arthur Rinderknech of France, 6-2, 4-6, 7-6 (5), in two hours and three minutes on Court Central Thursday night. Dimitrov hit 17 aces and 31 winners overall. He outpointed Rinderknech 93-79.

In doubles, the quarterfinal pairings have been set with the completion of seven second-round matches. However, both of the top-seeded teams were eliminated. First, No. 2 seeds Marcelo Arevalo of El Salvador and Mate Pavic of Croatia were upset by French wild cards Sadio Doumbia and Fabien Reboul, 7-6 (5), 7-6 (3). Then, on the same court, No. 1 seeds Marcel Granollers of Spain and Horacio Zeballos of Argentina fell to Vienna finalists Neal Skupski of Great Britain and Michael Venus of New Zealand, 6-4, 7-6 (6).

Despite their setbacks, both Granollers and Zeballos and Arevalo and Pavic are qualified for Turin to compete at the Nitto ATP Finals as the doubles field has already been set.

Thursday’s Rolex Paris Masters results

Friday’s Rolex Paris Masters order of play

By the numbers

Five Frenchmen — Arthur Cazaux, Arthur Fils, Ugo Humbert, Adrian Mannarino and Arthur Rinderknech — reached the Paris Rolex Masters third round. On Thursday, they attempted to break the record for most French quarterfinalists in tournament history (three in 2012), however Cazaux, Fills, Mannarino and Rinderknech all went down to defeat.

Looking back on his Court Central victory over World No. 19 Ben Shelton Wednesday night, Cazaux said: “I’d say today was a very emotional day with all the spectators behind me, who were cheering on every point. It was fantastic. I loved it.”

“Quotable …”

“I know if I want to be a consistent top player I’m going to have to back up match after match against the top players in the world. The hardest part for me this week has been adjusting to the conditions. It’s a lot different, a lot faster, which has made it tougher off the ground. I didn’t play my best but I’m really proud of the way I competed and the way I problem solved.”

— No. 15 Jack Draper of Great Britain, during his on-court interview with ATP Media, following his upset of World No. 6 Taylor Fritz Wednesday evening.

 

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