ATP Tour

Auger-Aliassime keeps Turin hopes alive with opening Paris victory, Fonseca wins again

Felix Auger-Aliassime kept alive his Nitto ATP Finals qualification hopes on Tuesday at the Rolex Paris Masters, where he battled from a set down to defeat Argentine qualifier Francisco Comesana 6-7(2), 6-3, 6-3.

The Canadian won the title at the ATP 250 event in Brussels nine days ago but was forced to retire during his quarter-final clash in Basel last week. Following his first-round win in Paris, Auger-Aliassime moved to within 440 points of eighth-placed Lorenzo Musetti in the PIF ATP Live Race To Turin. Musetti meets Lorenzo Sonego on Wednesday.

Auger-Aliassime, currently ninth in the Live Race To Turin, will need a deep run in the French capital if he is to qualify for the Nitto ATP Finals for the second time. The 25-year-old played in Turin in 2022, falling in the round-robin stage.

In a hard-fought battle against Comesana, Auger-Aliassime did not drop a point behind his first serve in the second set, according to Infosys ATP Stats, and then overpowered the World No. 68 in the decider to triumph after two hours and 20 minutes in the pair’s first Lexus ATP Head2Head meeting. Auger-Aliassime is 44-21 on the season.

Auger-Aliassime will next meet Frenchman Alexandre Muller in Paris. The Canadian’s best result in the French capital came in 2022 when he reached the semi-finals.

Joao Fonseca won his second ATP Tour title on Sunday when he triumphed at the ATP 500 event in Basel. On Tuesday in Paris, the Brazilian backed up that victory with a 5-7, 6-4, 6-3 comeback win against Denis Shapovalov to reach the second round on his tournament debut.

Fonseca moved past the Canadian en route to becoming the third-youngest ATP 500 champion in series history (since 2009) last week in Switzerland and once again had the better of proceedings.

"In tennis you have to change the mindset week after week," Fonseca said. "I won two days ago and now I am here playing Paris. I am very happy to change the mindset and be ready for this match. I lost the first set and after I changed a few things and I am very happy with the way I was mentally in this match. I wasn't playing my best in the beginning, I felt my hip a bit, but it is all good, nothing we can't adjust for the next round and we keep going."

The 19-year-old, playing at a career-high No. 28 in the PIF ATP Rankings, hit with clean power off both wings and overcame a physical issue in the third set, during which he received a medical timeout, to improve to 2-0 in the pair’s Lexus ATP Head2Head series.

Fonseca will next meet 10th seed Karen Khachanov. The 2024 Next Gen ATP Finals presented by PIF champion is the first Brazilian player to win a match at the Masters 1000 event in Paris since Tomaz Bellucci in 2015.

Daniil Medvedev earned his first victory at the Rolex Paris Masters since 2021, when he reached the final. The 11th seed beat Jaume Munar 6-1, 6-3 to snap a three-match losing streak at the indoor hard-court event.

Medvedev has now earned 40 tour-level wins in 2025 and has looked much improved in recent weeks. He reached the semi-finals in Shanghai earlier this month and then won the title in Almaty. The 2020 Paris champion will play Grigor Dimitrov in the second round.

In other early action, Shanghai champion Valentin Vacherot moved past Jiri Lehecka 6-1, 6-3 to set a rematch against his cousin Arthur Rinderknech. Vacherot defeated Rinderknech in three sets earlier this month in Shanghai to become the lowest-ranked ATP Masters 1000 champion in history (since 1990).