Ruud, Rublev fall in Paris, as De Minaur, Dimitrov, Tsitsipas see the way to Turin | ATP Tour

PIF ATP Live Race To Turin

Ruud, Rublev cross Paris, as De Minaur, Dimitrov, Tsitsipas see way to Turin

ATPTour.com takes a look at the PIF ATP Live Race To Turin coverage

October 29, 2024

Casper Ruud and Andrey Rublev's second-round exits at the Rolex Paris Masters on Tuesday could have a major impact on the PIF ATP Live Race To Turin.

In a back-to-back battle with Jordan Thompson, Ruud lost 7-6(3), 3-6, 6-4, while Francisco Cerundolo beat Rublev 7-6(6), 7-6(5) to record his 100th match win.

Ruud is currently seventh in the PIF ATP Live Race To Turin with 3,855 points. Eighth-placed Rublev trails the Norwegian by 135 points to close the qualifying spots.

However, both players could not get more points in this week's ATP Masters 1000. Meanwhile, fellow Turin hopefuls Alex de Minaur (ninth), Grigor Dimitrov (10th), and Stefanos Tsitsipas (12th) are all still alive and could move up. .

De Minaur would surpass Rublev if he were to enter the quarter-finals. If De Minaur and Tsitsipas meet in the semi-finals in Paris, and Tsitsipas wins the title, then both players will jump Rublev and Ruud.

If De Minaur were to lift the trophy, he would jump to sixth, and even fifth if Taylor Fritz loses early. A win for Dimitrov or Tsitsipas in Paris would put them in sixth place in the Live Race, which ends next week at the Belgrade Open and the Moselle Open in Metz.

In the final match on Tuesday, Ruud forced a decider, but it was Thompson who held firm to take a 4-3 lead in the Lexus ATP Head2Head series.

“I think my ball is a little soft, it doesn't give him much time to finish both moves,” said Thompson, who defeated Ruud in the final in Los Cabos to claim his first ATP Tour title in February. “But he plays well even on difficult courts, I was able to catch him a few times.

“Today I found it very difficult, he was hitting it deep and hard, but thankfully I was able to get through.”

Earlier, Cerundolo came from a break down in both sets to upset Rublev and record his 100th match win. Argentina was relentless in attack, winning 86 percent (7/8) of the net points, according to Infosys ATP Stats.