SHANGHAI: Tommy Paul moved past Frenchman Arthur Fils 6-4, 6-7(7), 6-4 to reach the fourth round of the Shanghai Masters, here on Monday, strengthening his slim ATP Finals qualification hopes.
In a hard-fought clash, the American recovered from squandering two match points in the second-set tie-break, responding with consistent baseline play in the deciding set to advance after two hours and 40 minutes, ATP Tour reports.
Paul is currently 11th in the ATP Live Race To Turin on 2, 525 points, trailing eighth-placed Holger Rune by 585 points. He is aiming to make his debut at the prestigious year-end event.
The 26-year-old has advanced to at least the fourth round at all hard-court ATP Masters 1000 events this season (Indian Wells, Miami, Toronto SFs, Cincinnati, Shanghai).
Paul will aim to reach his second Masters 1000 quarterfinal of the year when he takes on Andrey Rublev, who also advanced to Round of 16, brushing aside Adrian Mannarino 6-3, 6-0 to end the Frenchman’s eight-match winning run.
In other action, Grigor Dimitrov reached the fourth round at a Masters 1000 for the first time since Paris in 2022. The Bulgarian moved past World No. 14 Karen Khachanov 7-6(6), 6-4 to earn his sixth Top 20 win of the season.
The 18th seed saved one set point in the first set at 5/6 in the tie-break, before winning 17 of his 19 first-serve points in the second set to advance after one hour and 57 minutes.
Dimitrov now leads Khachanov 3-0 in the pair’s ATP Head-to-Head series and will next face top seed Carlos Alcaraz or Daniel Evans.