Holger Rune faces German Daniel Altmaier, who didn’t even enter the court this Wednesday
Photo: Corinne Dubreuil/ATP
Paris, France) – Like this it had already happened last Monday, this Wednesday’s round at the Paris Masters 1000 had very long games and the night session invaded the early hours. Current champion Holger Rune, number 7 in the world, and fourth place Jannik Sinner stayed on the court until late and guaranteed places in the round of 16. The round ended around 2:35 am local time (or 10:35 pm Brasília).
Rune was the first to enter the court and began his title defense, beating Austrian Dominic Thiem 6/4 and 6/2. The Dane fired six aces in the match and suffered no breaks, despite facing five break-points. He managed three breaks in the match, one in the opening set and two others in the following part, in which his service was threatened only once.
Rune’s opponent in the round of 16 will be German Daniel Altmaier, 54th in the rankings, who didn’t even play this Wednesday, benefiting from Taylor Fritz’s withdrawal due to an abdominal injury. It will be the first duel between them at ATP level, and the Dane has already beaten the German once at challenger level. The reunion takes place at 4:30 pm (Brasília time) this Thursday.
Soon after, it was Jannik Sinner’s turn to play his debut match. Coming off the title in Vienna last Sunday, the Italian started behind on the scoreboard and needed three sets and 2h16 to beat the North American Mackenzie McDonald 6/7 (6-8), 7/5 and 6/1. He will have little time to rest before facing Australian Alex de Minaur, who beat Serbian Dusan Lajovic 4-6, 6-4, 6-4. Sinner and De Minaur will face each other no earlier than 1pm (Brasília time) this Thursday.
In the first set with a break on each side, Sinner served for the set, leading by 5/4. He didn’t take advantage of the chance and lost the tiebreak. In the second half, the Italian did not face break-points and gave up just five points on serve. He only managed to break in the last game of the set. In the third, Sinner broke twice more and again took no risks with his serve.
Six games on Central Court this Thursday
Despite the rounds ending late in Paris, the tournament organizers maintain the schedule with six games for the main stadium this Thursday. The programming will start at 7am (Brasília time). Only two games in the round of 16 were scheduled for court 1.
Central Court – 7am
Alexander Bublik (CAZ) vs. Grigor Dimitrov (BUL)
[Q]Botic van de Zandschulp (HOL) vs. [5]Andrey Rublev
Not before 10:30 am
[7]Stefanos Tsitsipas (GRE) vs. [10]Alexander Zverev (ALE)
Not before 1pm
[4]Jannik Sinner (ITA) vs. [13]Alex de Minaur (AUS)
Not before 3:30 p.m.
[1]Novak Djokovic (SER) vs. Tallon Griekspoor (HOL)
Not before 4:30 p.m.
[6]Holger Rune (DIN) v. Daniel Altmaier (ALE)
Court 1 – 8:30am
[Q]Roman Safiullin vs. [16]Karen Khachanov
Francisco Cerundolo (ARG) vs. [11]Hubert Hurkacz (POL)
