By Chris Oddo | @TheFanChild | Wednesday October 18, 2023
Tommy Paul set a semifinal with Ben Shelton in Tokyo, while Casper Ruud and Hubert Hurkacz were dispatched.
Photo Source: TTV
Casper Ruud and Hubert Hurkacz both missed out on opportunities to pick up ground in the Race to Turin standings on Wednesday in Tokyo.
Hurkacz, last week’s champion at Shanghai, fell to China’s Zhang Zhizhen 3-6, 6-4, 7-6(4), while Ruud was bounced by Marcos Giron, 6-3, 6-4.
Giron’s 81-minute victory marks the American’s third Top-10 victory, and second of 2023.
Hurkacz and Ruud are 11th and 10th respectively in the Race to Turin standings, and hoping to chase down 8th-ranked Holger Rune, who is in action tonight in Stockholm.
Rune, with 3110 points at the moment, leads Ruud by 295 points and Hurkacz by 335 points.
Taylor Fritz, currently ranked No.9, is currently 145 points behind Rune – top-seeded Fritz will face Japan’s Shintaro Mochizuki in second-round action at Tokyo on Thursday.
Tommy Paul kept his hopes alive in the race in Tokyo with a victory over Mackenzie McDonald to reach the quarterfinals. Paul is 12th in the race, currently 515 points behind Rune.
26-year-old Paul improves to 39-26 on the season, matching his career-high win total from 2022 (39-27).
Paul notched his 39th victory, 6-4, 6-2, over McDonald, never facing a break point against his compatriot to set a quarterfinal clash with Ben Shelton. 19th-ranked Shelton scored a 6-7(5), 6-4, 6-3 win over Jordan Thompson to reach his fourth quarterfinal of 2023.
Alex de Minaur, 595 points back and 13th in the race, is also still alive in Tokyo. He will face Diego Schwartzman on Thursday in Tokyo.
Auger-Aliassime Reaches Last 8
Felix Auger-Aliassime got by Sebastian Ofner of Austria, 6-4, 6-1 to earn back-to-back wins on tour for the first time since Indian Wells. The Canadian, ranked 17, had lost nine of 11 matches heading into Tokyo, where he has not dropped a set en route to the quarterfinals.
"I need results like this," Auger-Aliassime said. "I believe in my game and I believe in myself that I have what it takes to win at this level. I have done it before but it is about doing it and having a lot of belief and a positive mind. I am happy that my level is translating to the match court after a couple of months."