Dimitrov Loses in Paris Masters Qualifying for the First Time in His Career

Grigor Dimitrov suffered an unwanted career first at the Rolex Paris Masters, losing in qualifying at the tournament for the first time. The former world No. 3 and former Paris finalist went down to Paraguay's Adolfo Daniel Vallejo 7-6(3), 4-6, 6-3 in the first round of qualifying, his fourth consecutive defeat. Dimitrov had reached the main draw of the Paris Masters in every year since 2012, apart from 2020 when he withdrew with a foot injury, so the loss marked a new low in a difficult season. It was also his first defeat in qualifying at any ATP 1000 event since the 2012 Cincinnati Open. The Bulgarian, who led Jannik Sinner by two sets at Wimbledon last year before a pectoral injury ended his run, has slipped outside the top 100 this season and now sits at No. 133 in the live rankings, where he is set to finish the year with no further tournaments scheduled. That ranking means he will have to play Australian Open qualifying next year for the first time since 2011, with questions now hanging over the next stage of his career.