Grigor Dimitrov stays alive in Turin tournament, Alexei Popyrin upsets Medvedev in Paris | ATP Tour

Matching Report

Dimitrov stays alive in Turin race, Popyrin upsets Medvedev in Paris

The eighth seed faces wild card Rinderknech in the third round

October 30, 2024

Grigor Dimitrov kept his hopes of qualifying for the Nitto ATP Finals alive with a thrilling comeback win on Wednesday at the Rolex Paris Masters.

The eighth seed dug deep to defeat Tomas Martin Etcheverry 6-7(9), 6-3, 7-5 to advance to the third round at the indoor ATP Masters 1000. Dimtrov saved all three break points he faced, according to Infosys ATP Stats. , in a hard-fought two-hour, 45-minute victory.

Dimitrov is currently ranked tenth in the PIF ATP Live Race To Turin, trailing ninth-placed Alex de Minaur by 305 points. The 33-year-old could be among the qualifiers in the run-up to the tournament in Paris.

“It's a difficult situation, at the end of the year it's very difficult,” said Dimitrov, who improved to 12-0 in the opening rounds in Paris. “Everybody wants to empty their tank completely.

“He played an amazing first set. I'm far from the game I really want to play, but I'm working on it. Winning games that way is much better for me than playing a clean game. I am very happy to fight. Of course, I really want to win every single game, but only if I can [show] that fight, I'm in a good place.

“I would give a lot to be in the middle [Turin]. I'm in a place where I'm still a competitor, I'm still fighting the best players in the world, and I'm still beating the smaller guys. This gives me confidence and makes me happy.”

Feeling the love in Paris 🫶

Last year's winner @GrigorDimitrov extends his undefeated record to 12-0 in the first rounds of #RolexParisMasters! pic.twitter.com/2Jzvf73oKW

– ATP Tour (@atptour) October 30, 2024

Dimitrov will leapfrog Novak Djokovic (sixth), Casper Ruud (seventh) and Andrey Rublev (eighth), all of whom cannot accumulate more points this week, if they want to lift the trophy.

Earlier, Alexei Popyrin's dominant year on the ATP Tour continued in emphatic fashion. The Australian stood firm and defeated fourth seed Daniil Medvedev 6-4, 2-6, 7-6(4) and booked his place in the third round.

In a high-octane battle, Popyrin let go of a 4-1 lead in the decider, but bounced back to secure his third career victory over a Top 5 opponent. The 25-year-old also claimed his first win of -Lexus ATP Head2Head against Medvedev (1-3).

Popyrin, who won his first ATP Masters 1000 title in Montreal in August, will face Basel champion Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard or Karen Khachanov for a place in the quarter-finals.

Medvedev, who lost for the third time in a row in the opening round in Paris, is still looking to win his first title of 2024.