Etcheverry Ends Losing Run and Rublev's Misery Deepens in Paris Epic

Tomas Martin Etcheverry ended a run of six straight defeats in dramatic fashion at the Rolex Paris Masters on Tuesday, edging Andrey Rublev 6-4, 6-7 (4), 7-6 (3) in a first-round contest that lasted two hours and 52 minutes. The Argentine, ranked No. 31 in the world, held his nerve in a deciding tie-break to reach the second round, where eighth seed Alex de Minaur, the runner-up in Vienna on Sunday, awaits. Rublev, who has now lost five matches in a row, looked to have turned the match when he levelled by winning the second-set tie-break 7-4 after dropping the opener. But Etcheverry, who had beaten Rublev in a final-set tie-break in Halle last year, repeated the trick in Paris, taking the decider 7-3 to complete a hard-earned victory on Court 2. The win was one of several first-round results on a packed Tuesday at the Paris Masters, where the first round concluded and the second round began. Earlier in the day, Arthur Rinderknech advanced when Francisco Cerundolo retired, and Quentin Halys beat Arthur Fery, while lucky loser Nuno Borges and 15th seed Learner Tien also progressed. For Etcheverry, though, the victory mattered most: after six consecutive losses, a win over a player of Rublev's standing, sealed in a tie-break, is exactly the kind of result that can turn a season around.