Zverev beats Tsitsipas to reach Paris Masters semifinals

PARIS (AP) — Alexander Zverev advanced to the semifinals of the Paris Masters by beating Stefanos Tsitsipas 7-5, 6-4 on Friday and knocking the Greek player out of contention for the ATP Finals.

With the victory, Zverev beat Daniil Medvedev to the milestone of the first player born in the 1990s to record 100 wins over top-20 players. Medvedev is on 99.

The third-seeded German saved the only break point he faced en route to his 64th victory of the year.

The 27-year-old Zverev, the French Open runner-up, next faces 2022 champion Holger Rune or Alex de Minaur for a shot at the title. He's into his third Paris semifinals in the past four years, though he's never won the hardcourt tournament.

The first break point opportunity of the match came in the 11th game as Tsitsipas struggled with his first serve. Zverev got the break for 6-5 on an unforced error.

Tsitsipas then saved two set points but squandered his only break point chance with his 17th unforced error before Zverev closed out the set.

Zverev then broke again in the third game of the second set to take full control. He rattled off 12 straight points in his final three service games.

The 10th-seeded Tsitsipas, who had reached the ATP Finals for five consecutive years, had 28 unforced errors to 18 winners.

Later Friday, home favorite Ugo Humbert will face Australia's Jordan Thompson, a day after the Frenchman stunned Carlos Alcaraz.

The nightcap pits eighth-seeded Grigor Dimitrov against 2018 champion Karen Khachanov.

Top-ranked Jannik Sinner pulled out of the Paris Masters, as did the record seven-time champion Novak Djokovic.

The ATP Finals in Turin start on November 10.

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AP tennis: https://apnews.com/hub/tennis