PARIS (AP) — Alexei Popyrin upset fourth-seeded Daniil Medvedev 6-4, 2-6, 7-6 (4) in the second round of the Paris Masters on Wednesday 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 under the roof of the Palais Omnisports.
Medvedev trailed 4-1 in the deciding set but broke back to force a tiebreaker 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 which 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, third-seeded Alexander Zverev saved a set point en route to a 7-6 (2), 6-3 victory over Tallon Griekspoor. Jack Draper eliminated fifth-seeded Taylor Fritz 7-6 (6), 4-6, 6-4.
Eighth-seeded Grigor Dimitrov stayed in the race for the ATP Finals after rallying past Tomas Marti.