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Rafael Nadal outpointed Australian Jordan Thompson in straight sets to reach the quarterfinals of the Paris Masters on Thursday, when Diego Schwartzman came within one victory of securing an ATP Tour Finals debut.
Top seed Nadal edged Thompson 6-1, 7-6 (7/3) to set up a round of 16 clash with compatriot Pablo Carreño Busta, who must win the title this week for a chance to snatch the last one. Place of the Schwartzman Tour finals.
World No. 61 Thompson missed a set point to force a decider in his first meeting with the 20-time Grand Slam champion.
“It started serving well. I missed a couple of laps that I shouldn’t have done, ”Nadal said. “It was close. I suffered until the end but I found a way to win the tie-break.”
Nadal, who claimed his 1,000th career victory by beating Feliciano López on Wednesday, is vying for a first indoor win in Paris that would match him with Novak Djokovic in a record 36 Masters titles.
The 34-year-old, who had to come back to overtake Lopez, raced through the opening match against Thompson in just 31 minutes, breaking twice and sealing it on his fourth set point after a brief 40-0 stutter up in the seventh game.
Thompson put up more of a fight in the second set, but missed a set point when 6-5 forward when a challenge from Hawkeye showed that a backhand from Nadal had landed on the baseline.
Nadal maintained his serve and improved his game in the tie-break to secure the victory.
The world number two has never failed to reach the quarter-finals at Bercy in his eight appearances despite only reaching the final once, when he lost to David Nalbandian in 2007.
Swiss veteran Stan Wawrinka reached the quarter-finals with a comeback 1-6, 6-4, 6-3 victory over Russian Andrey Rublev in form.
Rublev, who has 40 wins, the best season of the 2020 season, had already secured his place in the ATP Finals.
Wawrinka will face German fourth seed Alexander Zverev, who defeated Adrian Mannarino 7-6 (11/13), 6-7 (7/9), 6-4.
Schwartzman about to make his Finals debut
Argentine Schwartzman thrashed Alejandro Davidovich Fokina in the third round.
The sixth seed pulled off a 6-1, 6-1 win in just one hour and will face third seed Daniil Medvedev in the quarterfinals on Friday after the Russian’s 5-7, 6-2, 6-2 win. about the Australian Alex de Miñaur. .
Schwartzman will qualify for the Tour Finals if he wins that match or if Carreño Busta does not take the title.
“Tomorrow (Friday) is going to be a different game and it will be difficult because I want to be in London,” Schwartzman said. “I have to do everything in my power.”
The season-ending event, which is played in London for the last time before moving to Turin, begins on November 15.
Davidovich Fokina beat former Bercy champion Karen Khachanov in the first round, but was no match for Schwartzman.
The 28-year-old broke five times and saved all four break points he faced, all of them in the first game of the match.
Medvedev rallied from a set down to beat US Open quarter-finalist De Minaur and reach the last eight for the first time.
His seven ATP titles have come on hard courts, three of them also indoors.
“When you win those games, especially the way I did, playing really well, sometimes it gives you more confidence,” said the world number five. “Hopefully that’s the case.”
The winner of Schwartzman and Medvedev could face Milos Raonic in the semifinals, after the Canadian defeated the world’s 91st American, Marcos Giron, 7-6 (7/1), 6-1.
Former Wimbledon runner-up Raonic will play young Frenchman Ugo Humbert in the quarterfinals.
The 22-year-old, who won his last tournament in Antwerp, achieved eight consecutive victories by beating Marin Cilic 6-3, 6-7 (4/7), 6-3.
Spaniard Carreño Busta kept his hopes of the Tour final alive with a 7-5, 6-2 win over Norbert Gombos of Slovakia.
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