Jannik Sinner's No. 1 bid starts with 2nd-round win over Zizou Bergs at Paris Masters
Jannik Sinner’s bid to reclaim the No. 1 ranking gets off to a good start with a 6-4, 6-2 victory against Zizou Bergs in the second round of the Paris Masters
PARIS (AP) — Jannik Sinner's bid to reclaim the No. 1 ranking got off to a good start Wednesday with a 6-4, 6-2 victory over Zizou Bergs in the second round of the Paris Masters, which the Italian needs to win to knock Carlos Alcaraz off the top spot.
Sinner's 65-week reign as No. 1 ended in September when Alcaraz won the U.S. Open final against him for his sixth major title and the top spot. But Alcaraz lost in Paris on Tuesday in the second round to unseeded Cameron Norrie, opening the door for Sinner in their seesaw rivalry.
Sinner had Bergs under constant pressure, forging 11 break-point chances and converting three, while not conceding a break point of his own.
“I was very precise, and I also started off with a break straight away, which gives you a bit more confidence,” said Sinner, who is chasing a fifth title of the year and 23rd overall. “I’m very happy how I served today.”
The 24-year-old Sinner clinched victory on his first match point and plays unseeded Francisco Cerundolo in the third round.
Defending champion Alexander Zverev joined Sinner in round three by rallying from 3-1 down in the final set to beat Camilo Ugo Carabelli 6-7 (5), 6-1, 7-5.
The third-seeded German made a telling difference on his second serve, winning 78% of points compared to 42% for his opponent, who dropped his serve four times. Zverev next plays 15th-seeded Alejandro Davidovich Fokina.
Elsewhere, ninth-seeded Felix Auger-Aliassime of Canada rallied from a break down in the second set and 3-0 down in the third set tiebreaker in a 5-7, 7-6 (5), 7-6 (4) win over Frenchman Alexandre Muller.
Auger-Aliassime's erratic performance combined 50 winners and 55 unforced errors as he he maintained his chances of reaching the season-ending, eight-player ATP Finals in Turin, Italy.
Recommended for you
He next faces unseeded Daniel Altmaier, who beat eighth-seeded Casper Ruud 6-3, 7-5 to end the Norwegian's Turin chances. Seventh-seeded Lorenzo Musetti lost 3-6, 6-3, 6-1 to fellow Italian Lorenzo Sonego, who next plays No. 11 Daniil Medvedev, the 2020 champion and 2021 runner-up.
Medvedev had a walkover after Grigor Dimitrov — the 2023 tournament runner-up — pulled out of their match with a shoulder injury.
Family affair
Valentin Vacherot came out on top again in the battle of the cousins as he beat Arthur Rinderknech 6-7 (9), 6-3, 6-4.
“It was very physical. Mentally, it was hard, as well,” Vacherot said. “We were very tense, I think the crowd could see it.”
A little more than two weeks ago, Vacherot won the Shanghai Masters final against Rinderknech, making a run from qualifying in China to win his first career tournament.
The 40th-ranked Vacherot, who is from Monaco, plays Norrie next.
Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
Keep the discussion civilized. Absolutely NO
personal attacks or insults directed toward writers, nor others who
make comments. Keep it clean. Please avoid obscene, vulgar, lewd,
racist or sexually-oriented language. Don't threaten. Threats of harming another
person will not be tolerated. Be truthful. Don't knowingly lie about anyone
or anything. Be proactive. Use the 'Report' link on
each comment to let us know of abusive posts. PLEASE TURN OFF YOUR CAPS LOCK. Anyone violating these rules will be issued a
warning. After the warning, comment privileges can be
revoked.
Please purchase a Premium Subscription to continue reading.
To continue, please log in, or sign up for a new account.
We offer one free story view per month. If you register for an account, you will get two additional story views. After those three total views, we ask that you support us with a subscription.
A subscription to our digital content is so much more than just access to our valuable content. It means you’re helping to support a local community institution that has, from its very start, supported the betterment of our society. Thank you very much!
(0) comments
Welcome to the discussion.
Log In
Keep the discussion civilized. Absolutely NO personal attacks or insults directed toward writers, nor others who make comments.
Keep it clean. Please avoid obscene, vulgar, lewd, racist or sexually-oriented language.
Don't threaten. Threats of harming another person will not be tolerated.
Be truthful. Don't knowingly lie about anyone or anything.
Be proactive. Use the 'Report' link on each comment to let us know of abusive posts.
PLEASE TURN OFF YOUR CAPS LOCK.
Anyone violating these rules will be issued a warning. After the warning, comment privileges can be revoked.