Fritz Downs Fils in Straight Sets to Book Alcaraz Paris Quarter-Final

Taylor Fritz is one win from the Paris Masters semi-finals — and from keeping his season alive a little longer. The American 11th seed beat French sixth seed Arthur Fils 6-3, 6-4 in the last 16 on Thursday, staying in the running for a place at the ATP Finals. Fritz never let Fils settle, and the straight-sets win completed a quarter-final line-up that few would have predicted at the start of the week. Waiting for him on Friday is Carlos Alcaraz. The Spaniard reached the last eight without hitting a ball in the third round after Matteo Berrettini withdrew with an elbow injury, and he remains the top-ranked player left in the draw after world No. 1 Alexander Zverev's defeat on Wednesday. Alcaraz has never won the Paris Masters, and Fritz will believe he has a genuine opening. The draw has opened up dramatically. Wednesday's upsets claimed Zverev, Novak Djokovic, Daniil Medvedev, Frances Tiafoe and Alex de Minaur, and Thursday kept the surprises coming: Frenchman Luca Van Assche beat Lorenzo Musetti, the man who had knocked out Zverev, while Australian qualifier Rinky Hijikata backed up his win over Djokovic by rallying past Tomas Martin Etcheverry 2-6, 6-3, 7-5. Elsewhere, Ben Shelton came through a third-set tie-break against Arthur Rinderknech to set up an all-American quarter-final with Tommy Paul, and Casper Ruud beat Jan-Lennard Struff to complete the last eight against Nuno Borges. Fritz, though, has the headline tie — and a real chance to make it his week.