Paris Masters: Novak Djokovic fights back to beat Tallon Griekspoor, reaches quarterfinals

Novak Djokovic advanced to the Paris Masters 2023 quarterfinals by defeating Tallon Griekspoor 2:1 on Thursday. The match lasted for two hours and 40 minutes.

Also Read: Paris Masters: Novak Djokovic stays on track for the year-end No. 1 after beating Tomas Martin Etcheverry

Tallon Griekspoor put up a very fierce resistance against the world's number one tennis player. The Serb, on the other hand, unlike in his slick second-round win, looked rusty in only his second singles match since playing in the Davis Cup six weeks ago, losing a 4-1 lead in the first set and squandering three break opportunities early in the second.

The 24-times Grand Slam winner mounted a comeback, however, as he convincingly won the tiebreak and took the decider to continue his quest for a record-extending seventh title in Paris Masters.

Meanwhile, Holger Rune, who is currently seventh on the list, eliminated the German Daniel Altmaier with a convincing 2:0 (6:3, 6:3). The Dane will face Djokovic in a rematch of last year's Paris Masters final. 

The talented Dane has a 2:1 lead in head-to-head duels with Djokovic, and the last time he celebrated was in last year's Masters final in Paris after an upset, so this is Novak's opportunity for a sort of rematch.

However, fourth seed Jannik Sinner withdrew from the Paris Masters, citing health reasons after his second-round clash against Mackenzie McDonald ended at 2:37 am on Thursday.

The Italian was due to play Australia's Alex de Minaur, who will now face in-form Andrey Rublev, the fifth-seed Russian who earned his 20th Masters 1000 win of the season by beating qualifier Botic Van de Zandschulp 6-3, 6-3.

Also Read: Novak Djokovic, Iga Swiatek will participate in United Cup mixed-team event

Meanwhile, seventh seed Stefanos Tsitsipas secured his spot at the ATP Finals with a 7-6(2), 6-4 win over German 10th seed Alexander Zverev. The Greek will play Karen Khachanov in the quarter-finals after the 16th seed beat fellow Russian Roman Safiullin 4-6, 6-4, 6-2.

Poland's Hubert Hurkacz, the 11th seed, remained in contention for a spot at the tournament in Turin by beating Argentine Francisco Cerundolo 6-4 6-3. He will meet Grigor Dimitrov for a place in the semi-finals after the Bulgarian routed Alexander Bublik 6-2, 6-2.