By Alberto Amalfi | Tuesday, October 31, 2023
Alexander Zverev rallied past Marton Fucsovics and Hubert Hurkacz beat Sebastian Korda in Paris.
Photo credit: Chengdu Open Facebook
Multi-tasking comes to court at the Rolex Paris Masters.
Alexander Zverev and Hubert Hurkacz each prevailed in challenging Paris openers to keep their hopes of qualifying for the ATP Finals in Turin alive.
More: Fritz Withdraws from Paris
In a rematch of the Shanghai semifinals, Hurkacz fired 15 aces and faced just one break point subduing Sebastian Korda 6-3, 6-7(6), 6-3 to advance to a second-round clash vs. Roberto Bautista Agut.
It was the 11th victory in the last 13 matches for Hurkacz, who defeated Korda and Andrey Rublev in succession to capture the Rolex Shanghai Masters crown two weeks ago.
Though Hurkacz squandered match point at 6-5 in the second-set tiebreaker, he kept calm and broke for a 5-3 lead in the decider. Hurkacz won eight of the last 10 points played on his serve sealing a tough two hour, nine-minute victory.
Five men—Novak Djokovic, Carlos Alcaraz, Daniil Medvedev, Jannik Sinner and Andrey Rublev—have already punched tickets for Turin.
Three final spots remain for the elite eight-man field with Australian Open finalist Stefanos Tsitsipas closing in on the sixth spot and a fifth straight qualification for the season-ending event.
Olympic gold-medal champion Zverev was down a set and 4-5 today before rallying past Marton Fucsovics 4-6, 7-5, 6-4.
The 10th-seeded Zverev converted three of 13 break points. Zverev broke for a 5-4 lead in the final set before serving out the victory. Zverev will take on Frenchman Ugo Humbert in the second round. Humbert, who eliminated American qualifier Marcos Giron 6-4, 6-3, won his lone prior meeting vs. Zverev.
"It was just one or two points [difference]," Zverev said. "He was playing incredibly well and tactically I think he was unbelievable.
"His slice was effective as I did not know what to do on this surface here. It was a very difficult match and I am happy to be through. I found my level and I am happy with that."
Now standing at seventh place in the race to Turin, Zverev holds 3,540 points, which puts him 250 points ahead of defending Paris champion Holger Rune and 430 points ahead of Hurkacz as those three battle for the final two spots (assuming Tsitsipas qualifies as he's on pace to do).
Taylor Fritz, who is 10th in the Race to Turin, withdrew from Paris today due to an abdominal strain, which effectively ends his shot of returning to the ATP Finals next month.