Sinner marches into Paris Masters quarters, eyes No. 1 spot

Italy’s Jannik Sinner continued his sizzling indoor form at the Paris Masters, defeating Argentina’s Francisco Cerundolo 7-5, 6-1 on Thursday to storm into the quarterfinals and keep his bid for the world No. 1 ranking alive.

The four-time Grand Slam champion extended his indoor winning streak to 23 matches and remains on track to overtake Spain’s Carlos Alcaraz at the top of the ATP rankings. To do that, the 23-year-old must lift the Paris Masters trophy on Sunday.

Sinner, chasing his fifth title of the year and 23rd overall, showed no signs of fatigue despite playing his eighth match in less than two weeks. The Italian had won the Vienna Open just five days earlier, even battling cramps in the final.

“Hopefully, I can recover physically, which is my main priority,” Sinner said. “Today was a great match and a great performance from my side.”

Next, Sinner faced fifth-seeded Ben Shelton, who stunned 12th seed Andrey Rublev 7-6 (6), 6-3 to book his maiden ATP Finals berth in Turin. Sinner holds a dominant 6-1 head-to-head record over Shelton.

Meanwhile, defending champion Alexander Zverev produced a confident 6-2, 6-4 win over Spain’s Alejandro Davidovich Fokina. The third-seeded German wrapped up the match with an ace and will next meet Daniil Medvedev in a blockbuster quarterfinal, their 22nd career clash. Medvedev, who leads their rivalry 14-7, advanced after outlasting Lorenzo Sonego 3-6, 7-6 (5), 6-4.

The surprise story of the tournament continues to be Monaco’s Valentin Vacherot. The 40th-ranked player, fresh from his stunning Shanghai Masters triumph earlier this month, upset Britain’s Cameron Norrie 7-6 (4), 6-4 to reach another Masters quarterfinal.

“I never expected it,” Vacherot admitted. “Good thing that I keep going here, maybe enjoying the matches even more than in Shanghai.”

Vacherot will next face ninth seed Felix Auger-Aliassime, who came from behind to beat Daniel Altmaier 3-6, 6-3, 6-2, keeping alive his hopes of qualifying for the ATP Finals.

Elsewhere, Kazakhstan’s Alexander Bublik shocked fourth-seeded Taylor Fritz 7-6 (5), 6-2, while sixth seed Alex De Minaur cruised past former champion Karen Khachanov 6-2, 6-2 to seal his second straight qualification for the season-ending event in Turin.

With just one ATP Finals spot still open, the Paris Masters is turning into a high-stakes showdown and all eyes remain on Sinner as he chases not only the title, but tennis’ ultimate crown: the world No. 1 ranking.