SportsTennis
Alcaraz survives the day of upsets in Paris as Fils celebrates his Turin place with a win
The second seed beat Alex Michelsen 7-6(4), 6-3 on a night when most of the top names had already gone out, and Arthur Fils followed him into the last 16.
Key points
- Carlos Alcaraz beat Alex Michelsen 7-6(4), 6-3 in his first match in Paris.
- Arthur Fils beat qualifier Tomas Machac 6-3, 7-6(4) hours after making the ATP Finals.
- Alcaraz meets Matteo Berrettini on Thursday night, and Fils plays Taylor Fritz.
Carlos Alcaraz kept his head on a day when the Paris Masters lost almost every other big name. The second seed beat Alex Michelsen 7-6(4), 6-3 in his first match of the week on Wednesday night, hours after world No. 1 Alexander Zverev and Novak Djokovic had both gone out.
The American, ranked 35th, stayed with him through a tight first set, but Alcaraz edged the tie-break 7-4 and broke clear in the second. He won 34 of his 47 first-serve points and finished the job in an hour and 41 minutes.
“Really happy to get the win,” Alcaraz said. “It’s been a really difficult day for the top guys, but I just try not to think about it.” He plays Matteo Berrettini in Thursday’s night session, not before 11.30 pm IST.
Arthur Fils followed him onto Court Central and gave the home crowd something to cheer. The sixth seed beat Czech qualifier Tomas Machac 6-3, 7-6(4), a few hours after Quentin Halys’s win over Frances Tiafoe had confirmed his place at the ATP Finals in Turin from 15 to 22 November.
“It’s a childhood dream. The Masters is a childhood dream,” the Frenchman said. His next test is 11th seed Taylor Fritz, a match he called “not easy, really, really not easy”.