Stefanos Tsitsipas and Francisco Cerundolo renew hostilities a week after their Swiss Indoors match when they take to the court in Thursday's Paris Masters third round.
The Argentine player already took down Andrey Rublev, thus denting the Russian's ATP Finals hopes, and aims to outdo the Greek star, who needs a deep run this week to have a chance of qualifying for the Turin event.
Match preview
Having required a comeback win over Roberto Carballes Baena in his tournament opener, Tsitsipas dispatched Alejandro Tabilo in straight sets (6-3, 6-4) on Tuesday.
The 10th seed, 12th in the Live Rankings and outsider to play in Turin, needed the stars aligning in the French capital this week, and the ongoing events have opened the door to that possibility, even if he must take care of business on his end.
Early exits for Casper Ruud and Rublev, seventh and eighth, have strengthened the belief in the 26-year-old's camp, and he aims to notch a third victory this week to advance to the last eight in Paris.
Not alien to deep runs in the Masters event, a third consecutive last-four appearance will do his prospects of playing in Turin no harm, but he faces an opponent keen to avenge the outcome of their maiden ATP Tour encounter.
Tsitsipas beat Cerundolo in Basel last week before falling to Arthur Fils in the quarters, and the Argentine player seeks a victory to throw a spanner in the works to his Greek opponent's ATP Finals ambition.
The 26-year-old has played admirably on the big points this week, highlighted by winning three tie-breaks across rounds one and two, with two against Rublev last time out.
Cerundolo has matched his progress from last year when he advanced to a third match before falling to Hubert Hurkacz, and the world No. 29 hopes to make his first last-eight appearance in the indoor ATP 1000 event.
However, he must play high-level tennis to outdo the higher-ranked player and match his best Masters showing of the season — a quarter-final in Madrid.
Although the third round has typically been the Argentine player's ceiling at 1000 tournaments in 2024, underlined by a trio of exits at that stage before Thursday, he strives to reach a second last-eight match this year and fifth overall by ousting Tsitsipas.
Tournament so far
Stefanos Tsitsipas:
First round: vs. Roberto Carballes Baena 4-6 6-3 6-3
Second round: vs. Alejandro Tabilo 6-3 6-4
Francisco Cerundolo:
First round: vs. Quentin Halys 7-6(5) 6-3
Second round: Andrey Rublev 7-6(6) 7-6(5)
Head To Head
Basel (2024) - Round of 32: Tsitsipas 6-3 6-7(3) 7-6(4)
Last week's meeting in Basel was the pair's first on the ATP Tour, with Tsitsipas winning two tie-breaks after losing the opening set.
Given Cerundolo's ongoing streak of nothing three consecutive tie-breaks, he will enter the third-round match with his Greek opponent confident of claiming one after the previous week's failures.
We say: Tsitsipas to win in three sets
Expect another tight battle between Tsitsipas and Cerundolo, with Tsitsipas' determination to reach the ATP Finals likely giving him the edge in a thrilling three-setter.
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