Paris Masters 2024 Round 1 Recap

The opening round at the 2024 Rolex Paris Masters is complete, and there were significant casualties across the first two days. Rublev, Paul, Musetti, Hurkacz, and Tiafoe exited at the first hurdle.

Before the opening round was complete, Jannik Sinner withdrew from the event with a stomach virus; he was replaced by Arthur Cazaux, who also received a bye into the second round. 

Sinner wasn’t the only man to pull out, with Alejandro Davidovich Fokina, Flavio Cobolli and Pablo Carreno Busta also withdrawing, paving the way for several lucky losers to bag a main draw appearance.

You can see the complete set of results from the first round below.

Rolex Paris Masters Round of 64 Results

Tsitsipas Rallies Past Carballes Baena

Stefanos Tsitsipas needs to win Bercy to stand any chance of qualifying for Turin, and he’s determined to do so. He overcame a challenging start to defeat Roberto Carballes Baena 4-6, 6-3, 6-3 and advance to the second round.

Tsitsipas fired 36 winners en route to completing the match in one hour and 59 minutes and setting up a clash with Alejandro Tabilo.

The Greek revealed post-match that he had stomach issues early on, and Carballes Baena broke serve in the fifth game of the match and successfully defended two break points in the 10th to take the first set. 

The Spaniard reclaimed an early break in the second to edge closer, but he couldn’t fend off Tsitsipas’s more attacking game as the match wore on. The world number 11 quickly responded by breaking Carballes Baena for 3-1 en route to capturing the second set before rallying to move into the last 32.

I didn’t start so well. I had an upset stomach and wasn’t feeling great on the court. I couldn’t even pump myself up at the beginning of the match because when something bothers you, it takes your entire concentration and focus. That was perhaps the second battle I faced today, along with my opponent. It will take a lot for me to qualify, so let’s see if I manage to up my tennis during this entire week. If I’m able to deliver something good here, I guess that will also earn me a spot in Turin. Regardless of that, I’m just trying to improve and feel my game the best I can. It took a long time for me to feel better. It was extraordinary. It doesn’t happen very often. I just had to feel better because I knew I was playing good tennis. I didn’t have a great start, but there were so many things on my mind at that moment I couldn’t play clearly and with a good picture. Eventually, I found the tennis that I wanted. It took a while to get to that point, but I knew that if I got to feeling my game and aligning with my shots, it perhaps would have been enough to win that match. He wasn’t giving me much. I knew he would fight, but I knew I had weapons that could hurt him a lot, and I used those towards the end. Tsitsipas on his win.

Mpetshi Perricard Continues Red Hot Serving Form

Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard continued his impressive run by defeating American Frances Tiafoe 6-7(5), 7-6(4), 6-3.

The 21-year-old delivered another powerful serving performance, serving 28 aces during the match, and has now surpassed 500 aces for the season.

Tiafoe offered plenty in return, as the match lasted 2 hours, but Mpetshi Perricard has extended his winning streak to six matches following his first ATP title at the ATP 500 in Basel last week. He will face Vienna finalist Karen Khachanov in the next round.

Rune Aces Arnaldi

Holger Rune has fond memories of Paris, having lifted the title two years ago. He got off to a solid start, seeing off Matteo Arnaldi 6-4 6-4 in the opening round.

Rune went unbroken through the match and decisively broke once in each set to get the job done. He faces Sascha Bublik in the round of 32.

Other Matches of Note

Mannarino Ends Paul Turin Hopes: Tommy Paul’s hopes at qualifying for the ATP finals are over as he played like his girlfriend’s claw hand was digging into his shoulder throughout, falling to the out-of-form Adrian Mannarino 3-6 5-7, winning just 33% behind his second serve.

Struff Surprises Musetti: It’s been a quiet second half of the season for Jan-Lennard Struff, but he’s looking to finish on a high, aided by taking out last week’s Vienna semi-finalist Lorenzo Musetti 6-4, 6-2. He will face Fils next after the Frenchman defeated Marin Cilic.

Shelton Silences Moutet: Playing Perricard and Moutet in back-to-back matches is about as big a contrast as you can imagine, but Ben Shelton got the job done against the Frenchman in the third set 6-3 6-7(8) 6-3. There are some holes in his return game, though, as Perricard showed, as did Moutet, so there is some work for him in the season.

2024 Paris Masters Round of 32 Matches

The beauty of one-week Masters 1000 tournaments means plenty of exciting matches are already on the cards, with Draper vs Fritz looking like it could be a good one. Who are you rooting for in Paris? And who will make the ATP finals? Let me know in the comments.