Paris Masters Round-Up: Tough Day for Americans as Korda and Michelsen fall, Learner Tien stands tall

Continues the Day One of the Paris Masters, and the Americans have not had a great showing at the start of the first round, with the eliminations of Sebastian Korda and Alex Michelsen among the most notable, in addition to defeats for Brandon Nakashima, Marcos Giron, and Aleksandar Kovacevic.

The only one who managed to save face for the Americans at the start of the final Masters 1000 of the season was the 19-year-old Learner Tien, who secured a victory in straight sets against Nuno Borges and continues to climb positions in the ATP Ranking.

Sebastian Korda (No. 54) was coming in good form after securing wins in the qualifiers against Kopriva and Royer. The 25-year-old American continues to look to rediscover his level after a couple of seasons plagued by injuries, and indoors seemed like a good stage for him to display good tennis. However, he suffered a painful defeat against the Italian Lorenzo Sonego (No. 45) 6-2, 6-3.

The Italian was vastly superior in terms of first serve points won, with 82% against only 59% for Korda. The European was also better with the second serve, with 50% against Korda's 38%. Sonego pressured from the return from the start and took control of the match after only a few games, stringing together 5 consecutive games in the first set, going from 1-2 to 6-2, in a set of barely 34 minutes. Although Korda managed to keep the match closer for longer in the second set – and even achieved a break in his favor – the advantage remained largely with the Italian, who closed out the victory with his 5th break. In the second round, he will face his compatriot Lorenzo Musetti (No. 8).

The Belgian Zizou Bergs (No. 41) remains in good form in this final part of the year, dispatching the American Alex Michelsen (No. 35) in three sets. The European recently reached his first Masters 1000 quarter-finals at the Shanghai Masters – being eliminated by Djokovic – and his new victory at the Paris Masters allows him to climb back into the ATP top-40.

It was not an easy challenge for Bergs, who was much more aggressive than his opponent: Bergs hit 22 winners against 11 for Michelsen, while the unforced errors were 20 for the Belgian against 9 for the American. Michelsen continues in an irregular state of form, having suffered first-round defeats in 5 of his last tournaments – although the only time he advanced was a decent campaign to the semi-finals at the Almaty Open. Bergs will face world No. 2 Jannik Sinner in the second round.

The 19-year-old Learner Tien (No. 39) was the only American to emerge victorious on Day One in Paris, after defeating Portuguese Nuno Borges (No. 46) 6-2, 7-6(7). The teenager continues to take giant steps on the Tour, dominating the Portuguese from start to finish – a player more acclimated on clay-courts than on the fast indoor hardcourts in Paris.

Tien took control of the match early on, securing two consecutive breaks – which, added to his good service games, gave him a comfortable 5-1 lead. The American remained firm on serve and closed the set 6-2 after barely 27 minutes, conceding only four points on his serve.

In the second set, the differences were not as great, and Borges found a better rhythm with his serve. Tien took the first break advantage and led 5-3, but he could not capitalize on the opportunity to close out the victory with his serve, and Borges staged a comeback – winning three games in a row. Everything was decided in the tie-break, where Borges had two set points – one of them on his serve – but could not convert them. Tien closed out the victory with a mini-break at the end 6-2, 7-6(7) and reaches 9 wins in Masters 1000 tournaments this season. In the second round, he will face the Russian Andrey Rublev.