Stefanos Tsitsipas qualified for the ATP Finals by beating Alexander Zverev 7-6 (2), 6-4 in the third round of the Paris Masters on Thursday, while a fatigued Jannik Sinner pulled out of the tournament because of some questionable scheduling.
With 37 wins against Zverev’s 28 this season, the seventh-seeded Tsitsipas achieved his first victory over a player ranked in the top ten. It was a significant win for Tsitsipas in a number of ways. Firstly, he became the sixth player, following Novak Djokovic, Carlos Alcaraz, Daniil Medvedev, Jannik Sinner, and Andrey Rublev, to qualify for the eight-man ATP Finals in Turin. Also read: Reaching New Heights: Veronika Kudermetova Claims Second Title at Toray Pan Pacific Open
Tsitsipas defeated Zverev, marking his 50th victory of the year.
Second of all, after posting victories of 55 in 2021 and 61 in 2022, he has now won 50 or more games in each of the previous three years. Previous but not least, Tsitsipas has accomplished something really remarkable: in the previous three years, he has become one of just two players—male or female—to achieve 50 or more victories. With 53 victories in 2021, 51 wins in 2022, and 55 wins thus far in 2023, Rublev is the only other player to accomplish this feat.
Going back to this week, though, Tsitsipas will face Karen Khachanov in the Paris quarterfinals after the latter defeated Roman Safiullin, Carlos Alcaraz’s conqueror, 4-6, 6-4, 6-2. Tsitsipas has a 6-1 head-to-head advantage over Khachanov, but Khachanov’s victory actually occurred in their most recent meeting—a 7-6 (4), 6-4 triumph in Miami earlier this year—in the round of 16. Also read: 7 Unknown Facts about Carlos Alcaraz that you never knew
This club is now exclusive to Rublev and Tsitsipas, too. The only other player, male or female, to have 50 or more wins in each of the last two years was Casper Ruud with 57 in 2021 and 51 in 2022—but he’s stuck at 37 this year and after falling at the Rolex Paris Masters yesterday he has no path to 50 in 2023 anymore.