Paris Masters: Novak Djokovic on course for seventh title I No 1 Carlos Alcaraz breezes through | Tennis News

Novak Djokovic is three wins away from a seventh Paris Masters title after beating Karen Khachanov 6-4 6-1 in the third round on Thursday.

After edging the first set, sixth seed Djokovic broke Khachanov’s serve twice in the second before converting a fourth match point in the seventh game to seal the victory.

The match was a repeat of the 2018 Paris Masters final – which Khachanov won – and Djokovic now has an 8-1 record against the Russian, with four of those wins coming in 2022.

Defending champion Djokovic will face Lorenzo Musetti in the quarter-finals after Roland Garros finalist Casper Ruud was ousted by the Italian.

Musetti, 20, fired 37 winners as he came from a set down to eliminate third-seeded Norwegian Ruud 4-6 6-4 6-4 and advance to his maiden ATP Masters 1000 quarter-final.

“He (Ruud) was playing really well and I had to play my best tennis to beat him. I am really happy that all the hard work I am doing keeps improving me. I am really proud of this win,” said Musetti.

Elsewhere, world No 1 Carlos Alcaraz swept aside Grigor Dimitrov 6-1 6-3 to book his place in the quarter-finals.

Top seed Alcaraz dominated from the outset and dropped just two points on serve in the opening set before fending off a second-set fightback from Bulgarian Dimitrov to close out the match in one hour and 12 minutes.

“(Grigor’s) level is very much not the level you saw today, but I played very well,” said Alcaraz, who is chasing a third ATP Masters 1000 title this season.

“At the end of the second set it was tougher for me, he came back, he raised the level and obviously it was tough. He had the chance to go up in the second set, I had to stay calm in that moment and show my best to not allow him to go up.”

Denmark’s Holger Rune also advanced after the 19-year-old took down seventh seed Andrey Rublev 6-4 7-5, while Canada’s Felix Auger-Aliassime stayed on course for a fifth title of the year with a 6-1 6-3 demolition of French veteran Gilles Simon, who has called time on his professional career.

Russian Rublev and Auger-Aliassime had secured their places at the season-ending ATP Finals in Turin on Wednesday.