Paris Masters Round-Up | Brilliant Bublik dumps out Fritz, Vacherot continues brilliance and De Minaur seals Turin spot

Thursday at the 2025 Paris Masters has seen a mix of shocks and continued excellence as Alexander Bublik saw off Taylor Fritz in a superb win as he continues his late march to perhaps be an alternate at the ATP Finals in Turin.

Bublik has won four titles this year over all three surfaces and has gone from being a showman to one who actually wins titles and is a lot more consistent and in facing off against Taylor Fritz, it was less of a tie based on issues between players after his tie with a certain Corentin Moutet yesterday.

One where he chirped about the fact that it's easy for him to get a taxi home as he lives in Paris and signing on his way home on the camera months after they nearly got into a fight at a Phoenix Challenger back in March. But this time he also joked that for Fritz it was less important to win as he is going to Turin and he is still fighting to be an alternate. He saw off Fritz in a tight opening set tie-break before sweeping the second set 6-2.

“I think I used every chance I had except for the first set. I was really lucky at the tiebreak. He missed a couple easy shots that he usually doesn’t miss. I guess we’re in different positions now. He’s going to Turin. I’m still fighting to maybe be an alternate. I think also the mindset changed a bit. I’m not gonna say 100% but I think he wasn’t as clutch as he usually is," said Bublik after sealing the win.

"I had a bit of a freedom, which he took from me in the past 3 meetings where he actually killed me all the time. That’s what I felt different. Probably the slow court didn’t really favor him. I felt great today. My forehands were sitting in. I was hitting the spots. For me it’s the chances that I used and obviously him not being 100% I think. Because he has a very important tournament to go. It’s way more important than beating me here, huh?”

While Felix Auger-Aliassime certainly is leaving it all out on the court in what is a late bid to make it to the ATP Finals in Turin. He saw off Daniel Altmaier 3-6, 6-3, 6-2 and it is the third time in as many matches that he has rallied from a set down to progress.

Auger-Aliassime was a bit languid to start the tie as he gave Altmaier a pretty comfortable opener but he produced a superb foray in the second and then backed it up with an even better third to seal his spot in the Quarter-Finals where Valentin Vacherot awaits.

“Three sets all week. It’s been a struggle all week,” reflected Auger-Aliassime. “Just fighting back, I feel like every day. That’s why I came in today knowing it might be tough again. Just stay calm, stay patient, and try to find solutions. I tried to dig deep. I know I have solutions within myself, but it’s just about making the right choices and executing right.

“I started serving better and better as the match went on. I was struggling with his change of pace on the serve… It was just a bit of a mix up in my mind, where to return. I found a way to pressure him and broke him three times in the rest of the match.”

Vacherot defeated Cameron Norrie who conquered Carlos Alcaraz in a 7-6, 6-4 win. He has now won 10 consecutive matches at ATP Masters 1000 level and he is up ten spots to World No.30 in the ATP ranking already. Ben Shelton and Alex de Minaur also sealed their spots in Turin.

De Minaur raced past Karen Khachanov 6-2, 6-2 to ensure he will compete in Turin for the second consecutive year. The Australian won a tour leading 42nd hard court victory of the season. While Shelton downed Andrey Rublev 7-6, 6-3 to book his Quarter-Final spot and also Turin. He will now face off against Jannik Sinner or Francisco Cerundolo in the last eight.