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PARIS: Jannik Sinner beat Francisco Cerundolo 7-5, 6-1 in the third round of the Paris Masters on Thursday to extend his indoor winning streak to 23 matches and maintain his chances of reclaiming the No. 1 ranking.
The four-time Grand Slam champion needs to win the tournament to take the top spot from Carlos Alcaraz. Sinner’s quarterfinal opponent on Friday will be Ben Shelton.
The fifth-seeded American beat 12th-seeded Andrey Rublev 7-6 (6), 6-3 to secure his place in the eight-man, season-ending ATP Finals in Turin, Italy.
Sinner is chasing a fifth title of the year and 23rd overall. He won an ATP 500 tournament in Vienna last Sunday despite having cramps.
“Hopefully, I can recover physically, which is my main priority” Sinner said ahead of his eighth match against Shelton. “Today was a great match and a great performance from my side.”
He leads Shelton 6-1 overall.
Later Thursday, defending champion Alexander Zverev played Alejandro Davidovich Fokina.
Vacherot keeps going
There seems to be no stopping Valentin Vacherot, who reached another Masters quarterfinal by beating Cameron Norrie 7-6 (4), 6-4.
Already this month, Vacherot made a stunning run from the qualifiers to win the Shanghai Masters for his first career title. He downed 24-time Grand Slam champion Novak Djokovic in the semifinals and beat his own cousin Arthur Rinderknech in the final.
“I never expected it,” Vacherot said. “Good thing that I keep going here, maybe enjoying the matches even more than in Shanghai.”
The 40th-ranked Vacherot, who is from Monaco, beat Rinderknech again in the second round here in Paris, setting up a match against Norrie after the British player eliminated Alcaraz.
Vacherot had five aces and saved all five break points against Norrie, who dropped serve once.
Vacherot next faces ninth-seeded Felix Auger-Aliassime, who rallied past Daniel Altmaier 3-6, 6-3, 6-2. Victory maintained Auger-Aliassime’s chances of reaching the eight-man, season-ending ATP Finals in Turin, Italy.
Other matches
Fourth-seeded American Taylor Fritz lost 7-6 (5), 6-2 to No. 13 seed Alexander Bublik; No. 6 Alex De Minaur won 6-2, 6-2 against 2018 champion Karen Khachanov; and 2020 champion Daniil Medvedev reached his 25th Masters quarterfinal with a 3-6, 7-6 (5), 6-4 win over Lorenzo Sonego.
Race to Turin
De Minaur qualified for the ATP Finals for the second consecutive season and Shelton for the first time, leaving one spot left.
Auger-Aliassime will leapfrog Lorenzo Musetti only if he reaches the final in Paris.

ROME: Juventus have appointed former Italy manager Luciano Spalletti as head coach until the end of the season, the Serie A club said on Thursday, following the sacking of Igor Tudor.
Juventus turned to the former Italy, Inter Milan and Napoli manager after parting ways with Tudor following an eight-match winless run in all competitions. They sit seventh in the standings after nine games.
“Luciano Spalletti is the new head coach of Juventus, signing an agreement with the club until June 30, 2026,” Juventus said in a statement.
“We are delighted to welcome a coach with such expertise and experience to the Bianconeri family: welcome to Juventus and good luck, coach!“
Croatian Tudor, who replaced Thiago Motta in March, was the first foreign manager appointed by Juventus since Frenchman Didier Deschamps in 2006-07.
He guided Juventus to a fourth-place finish in Serie A last season and secured qualification for the Champions League.
However, they had not won a game since mid-September with five draws followed by three straight losses in all competitions before Tudor was sacked.
Massimo Brambilla took interim charge and Juve won their next game, beating Udinese 3-1.
Spalletti, 66, led Napoli to their first Serie A title in 33 years in 2023, after a long club management career that has included spells at AS Roma, Inter, and a five-year stint with Russian club Zenit St. Petersburg.
He was appointed Italy head coach in 2023 and led them to Euro 2024, where they exited in the last 16 after a 2-0 loss to Switzerland.
Spalletti also oversaw an uninspiring World Cup 2026 qualification campaign, leading to his
sacking in June, after less than two years in the job.