Oct 30, 2025, 05:12 PM ET<\/p>\n
PARIS — Jannik Sinner<\/a> beat Francisco Cerundolo<\/a> 7-5, 6-1 in the third round of the Paris Masters on Thursday to extend his indoor winning streak to 23 matches and maintain his chances of reclaiming the No. 1 ranking.<\/p>\n The four-time Grand Slam champion needs to win the tournament to take the top spot from Carlos Alcaraz<\/a>. Sinner’s quarterfinal opponent on Friday will be Ben Shelton<\/a>.<\/p>\n The fifth-seeded American beat 12th-seeded Andrey Rublev<\/a> 7-6 (6), 6-3 to secure his place in the eight-man, season-ending ATP Finals in Turin, Italy.<\/p>\n Sinner is chasing a fifth title of the year and 23rd overall. He won an ATP 500 tournament in Vienna last Sunday despite having cramps.<\/p>\n “Hopefully, I can recover physically, which is my main priority” Sinner said ahead of his eighth match against Shelton. “Today was a great match and a great performance from my side.”<\/p>\n He leads Shelton 6-1 overall.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, defending champion Alexander Zverev<\/a> downed 15th-seeded Alejandro Davidovich Fokina<\/a> 6-2, 6-4.<\/p>\n The third-seeded German won on his first match point with an ace and next takes on 11th-seeded Daniil Medvedev<\/a>, the 2020 champion.<\/p>\n They meet for the 22nd time in an often intense rivalry, which Medvedev leads 14-7 having won their past five encounters.<\/p>\n Vacherot keeps going<\/p>\n There seems to be no stopping the 40th-ranked Valentin Vacherot<\/a>, who reached another Masters quarterfinal by beating Cameron Norrie<\/a> 7-6 (4), 6-4.<\/p>\n Already this month, Vacherot made a stunning run from the qualifiers to win the Shanghai Masters<\/a> for his first career title, after entering it ranked 240th.<\/p>\n He downed 24-time Grand Slam champion Novak Djokovic<\/a> in the semifinals and beat his own cousin Arthur Rinderknech<\/a> in the final.<\/p>\n “I never expected it,” Vacherot said. “Good thing that I keep going here, maybe enjoying the matches even more than in Shanghai.”<\/p>\n Vacherot, who is from Monaco, beat Rinderknech again in the second round here in Paris, setting up a match against Norrie after the British player eliminated Alcaraz.<\/p>\n Vacherot had five aces and saved all five break points against Norrie, who dropped serve once.<\/p>\n Vacherot next faces ninth-seeded Felix Auger-Aliassime<\/a>, who rallied past Daniel Altmaier<\/a> 3-6, 6-3, 6-2. Victory maintained Auger-Aliassime’s chances of reaching the eight-man, season-ending ATP Finals in Turin, Italy.<\/p>\n Other matches<\/p>\n Fourth-seeded American Taylor Fritz<\/a> lost 7-6 (5), 6-2 to No. 13 seed Alexander Bublik<\/a>; No. 6 Alex De Minaur<\/a> won 6-2, 6-2 against 2018 champion Karen Khachanov<\/a>; and Medvedev reached his 25th Masters quarterfinal with a 3-6, 7-6 (5), 6-4 win over Lorenzo Sonego<\/a>.<\/p>\n Race to Turin<\/p>\n De Minaur qualified for the ATP Finals for the second consecutive season and Shelton for the first time, leaving one spot left.<\/p>\n