Paris, 7 November: Carlos Alcaraz dug deep to defeat a stern challenge from Taylor Fritz, 6-7(10), 7-5, 6-3, and march into the Paris Masters semifinals.
Alcaraz’s win ended Fritz’s hopes of qualifying for the ATP Finals and instead ensured that his countryman Rafael Jodar booked the final spot for the year-end tournament.
Fritz, 11th in the ATP Live Race to Turin before his clash with Alcaraz, had to beat the Spaniard to leapfrog the ninth-placed Jodar and book his spot in the ATP Finals, which will take place at the Inalpi Arena in Turin, Italy. Jodar had already crashed out of Paris in the round of 32.
Now Jodar, who is having his first full-time tour-level debut this season, is the final player to earn qualification. Earlier, Frances Tiafoe became the seventh player to qualify for the year-end event after Tommy Paul lost his chance with a defeat against Ben Shelton in the Paris quarters.
Meanwhile, Alcaraz produced a remarkable comeback in the match against Fritz to reach his third ATP Masters 1000 semifinal. He was 6-7 (10) and 3-5 down in the match and was facing a match point on his serve before he won a brilliant point to hold for 4-5.
