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Nadal, De Minaur, Thompson win in Paris

3 minute read

Rafa Nadal has won his 1,000th ATP tour match while Aussies Alex de Minaur and Jordan Thompson also booked their last-16 places with Paris Masters victories.

ALEX DE MINAUR.
ALEX DE MINAUR. Picture: Julian Finney/Getty Images

Top seed Rafael Nadal came from behind to beat Feliciano Lopez and move into the third round of the Paris Masters with his 1,000th singles ATP Tour victory.

Spaniard Nadal, playing for the first time since his French Open triumph, fought back to defeat compatriot Lopez 4-6 7-6 (7-5) 6-4 in just over two-and-a-half hours on Wednesday.

The victory saw world number two Nadal, 34, becomes only the fourth player in the open era to pass the milestone - joining Jimmy Connors, Roger Federer and Ivan Lendl on the exclusive list.

"To achieve that number is because I have been playing well for a lot of years and is something that makes me feel happy," Nadal told reporters afterwards at a virtual press conference.

"I know it is a very special number, 1,000. Even if it's not the same to celebrate something like this without a crowd, I enjoy it with ATP, with the president of the French (Tennis) Federation, Guy Forget, supervisor and the ball boys.

"I enjoy it and just can say thanks to all of them to make this moment a little bit more special."

Nadal will face Jordan Thompson in the round of 16 after the Australian came from a set down to defeat Croatia's Borna Coric 2-6 6-4 6-2.

26-year-old Thompson, currently ranked fourth in Australia, stormed home after trailing by a set and a break in the second to win in two and a quarter hours.

Alex De Minaur's recent good run of form continued, battling past the in-form Italian Lorenzo Sonego 6-3 7-5.

Australia's No.1 men's player, who reached the final of the Antwerp Open in his most recent European outing last month, took an hour and 27 minutes to subdue Sonego.

The world No.25 will have to get past Daniil Medvedev, the third seed, in bid to reach the quarter-finals.

The Russian was leading 5-2 in the first-set tiebreak when his South African opponent, Kevin Anderson, had to retire with a right leg injury.

Elsewhere, Frenchman Ugo Humbert stunned second seed Stefanos Tsitsipas 7-6 (7-4) 6-7 (8-6) 7-6 (7-3) and has Marin Cilic next up.

12th seed Stan Wawrinka battled past Tommy Paul, coming from behind to defeat the American 4-6 7-6 (7-3) 6-2, and will next take on Andrey Rublev who saw off Radu Albot 6-1 6-2.

Germany's Alexander Zverev took just 55 minutes to defeat Serb Miomir Kecmanovic 6-2 6-2 and set up a meeting with Adrian Mannarino who outlasted Yoshihito Nishioka 6-3 6-7 (7-5) 6-3.

Argentine Diego Schwartzman made a good start in his bid to qualify for the season-ending ATP Finals with a 7-5 6-3 victory over Frenchman Richard Gasquet.

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