Thiem battles past Raonic as Tsitsipas and Chardy through at Paris Masters

Dominic Thiem eked out a narrow 7-6 (7/5), 5-7, 6-4 victory against Milos Raonic in a hotly-contested match at the Paris Masters on Wednesday.

With the victory, he moved to the third round while Greek star Stefanos Tsitsipas also progressed. World number seven Tsitsipas continued his resurgence with a 7-6 (7/3), 6-3 victory over American Taylor Fritz.

Earlier, fifth seed Thiem had to dig deep to get past Raonic in the epic encounter as the Canadian powered down 30 aces in a thunderous serving display. But Thiem, who has lost the last two French Open finals to Rafael Nadal across Paris at Roland Garros, refused to give up and saved nine of 10 break points to stay with his opponent before clinching the crucial breakthrough in game nine of the deciding set.

“It was unbelievable today, his serve,” admitted the Austrian after winning in two hours and 38 minutes.

“He served almost all his serves between 205 (kph) and 230. When you have your chances you feel under so much pressure because you know you won’t have many.”

Thiem, who reached the semi-finals at Bercy last year, will face either Belgian 12th seed David Goffin or Bulgaria’s Grigor Dimitrov in the last 16.

“The draw is unreal, only top players,” he added.

Meanwhile, the 21-year-old Tsitsipas who struggled following the end of the clay-court season, has since recovered and arrived in Paris having reached at least the semi-finals in each of his previous three events. He claimed a tight opening set in a tie-break before cruising through the second to book berth in the next round.

Denis Shapovalov ousted Monte Carlo Masters winner Fabio Fognini 3-6, 6-3, 6-3 to set up a tough third-round meeting with sixth seed Alexander Zverev.

Shapovalov has made it to the three three Masters semi-finals in his career, including at Miami earlier this year, while the loss ended Fognini’s thin hopes of qualifying for next month’s ATP Tour Finals in London.

In another game, Chile’s Cristian Garin edged out former runner-up John Isner 7-6 (7/5), 7-6 (7/4) and will next face Jeremy Chardy after the Frenchman’s shock win over world number four Daniil Medvedev on Tuesday.

Later on Wednesday, top seed Novak Djokovic will start his bid for a record-extending fifth Bercy title against French lucky loser Corentin Moutet, before Rafael Nadal takes on wildcard Adrian Mannarino.

Meanwhile, Roger Federer has withdrawn from the ATP Cup, a new team competition to be held in Australia in January, citing “family reasons”.

“It is with great regret that I am withdrawing from the inaugural ATP Cup event,” Federer said in a statement.

“When I entered the event last month, it was a really difficult decision because it meant less time at home with the family and a fully intense start to the season. After much discussion with both my family and my team about the year ahead, I have decided that the extra two weeks at home will be beneficial for both my family and my tennis.”

The world number three withdrew on Monday from this week’s Masters 1000 tournament in Paris, two hours before the start also saying he needed to rest. The ATP Cup organisers tweeted: “@rogerfederer announced that he would not play the #ATPCup for family reasons and therefore Switzerland was removed” from the competition.

The ATP Cup is a new competition which competes with the revamped Davis Cup and will be held in Brisbane, Perth and Sydney from Jan.3-12.

“It pains me to not be a part of the most exciting new event on the calendar,” Federer said.

“But this is the right thing to do if I want to continue to play for a longer period of time on the ATP Tour. For my Australian fans, I look forward to seeing you all at the Australian Open, fresh and ready to go.”

The Davis Cup will be held Nov.18-24 in Madrid but Switzerland did not qualify.

Federer will next play at the ATP Tour Finals in London, which get underway on Nov.10.

Agencies