Paris Masters: Popyrin stuns fourth-seeded Medvedev

Alexei Popyrin upset fourth-seeded Daniil Medvedev 6-4 2-6 7-6(4) in the second round of the Paris Masters in a tense match with many ups and downs. The 25-year-old Australian player, who won his first Masters 1000 title in Montreal this summer, had lost his three previous matches against his Russian rival.

Popyrin and Medvedev combined for a total of 86 unforced errors. Medvedev trailed 1-4 in the deciding set but broke back to force a tie-breaker in which Popyrin played more aggressively. Medvedev double-faulted to give Popyrin a match point and the Australian converted it at the net.

It was Medvedev’s third straight opening-round loss in Paris. He has not won a title this season.

A bad call from a line umpire that forced a point to be replayed in the eighth game of the deciding set left Popyrin furious, but he recovered quickly and won the replay with a superb forehand volley to erase a break-point.

“Stuff like that, I’m trying to let it fire me up rather than put me down,” Popyrin said. “It was tough to take, but it definitely fired me up after that, probably woke me up a little bit, and maybe I played a bit more free.”

Also, eighth-seeded Grigor Dimitrov stayed in the race for the ATP Finals after rallying past Tomas Martin Etcheverry 6-7(9) 6-3 7-5. Dimitrov, who is in 10th place in the race, could qualify if the reaches the final.

Bopanna advances

Rohan Bopanna and Australia’s Matthew Ebden advanced to the men’s doubles quarterfinals. The pair eked out a 6-4 7-6 win over the Brazilian-German combine of Marcelo Melo and Alexander Zverev. pti