Qualifier Jeremy Chardy recorded his first victory in five matches against Gilles Simon, a semi-finalist at the 2012 Rolex Paris Masters, 6-3, 6-0 in 66 minutes on Monday. He advances to play No. 14 seed Roberto Bautista Agut of Spain in the second round.
French wild card Nicolas Mahut scraped past Canadian qualifier Vasek Pospisil 5-7, 7-5, 7-6(4) in two hours and 35 minutes. Pospisil hit 12 aces and lost only six of his first-service points (49/55), while Mahut — who will now challenge Nitto ATP Finals contender Pablo Carreno Busta of Spain — struck 11 aces and lost seven of his first-service points (47/54).
“I feel good physically and I have a lot of energy,” said Mahut. “I was serving better and moving better. A victory at a Masters 1000 is extremely pleasant to have.”
.@nmahut's number one fan — his son — definitely helped him claw out the win in a third-set tiebreak over Vasek Pospisil. 🤗#RolexPMasters pic.twitter.com/pMG5mOnR8f
— ROLEX PARIS MASTERS (@RolexPMasters) October 30, 2017
Two Americans — Steve Johnson and Ryan Harrison — made early exits on Monday.
Dutchman Robin Haase recorded his first victory at the ATP World Tour Masters 1000 tournament since 2013 when he swept past Johnson 6-2, 6-1 in 51 minutes. He will next face fourth-seeded German Alexander Zverev, a winner of two Masters 1000 titles this year at the Internazionali BNL d'Italia and the Western & Southern Open.
[ALSO LIKE]German lucky loser Peter Gojowczyk defeated Harrison 7-6(5), 6-3 in 85 minutes for a second-round test against fourth seed Dominic Thiem of Austria.
#NextGenATP South Korean Hyeon Chung will challenge top seed Rafael Nadal, who is one match win away from clinching year-end No. 1 in the Emirates ATP Rankings, after he cruised past Mischa Zverev of Germany 6-0, 6-2 in 57 minutes.
Lopez/Lopez Stay In The Race
Feliciano Lopez and Marc Lopez kept their faint hopes of qualifying for the Nitto ATP Finals alive as they defeated Karen Khachanov and Andrey Rublev 4-6, 6-4, 10-6 in the doubles first round. The Spanish duo must win the Paris title this week if they are to have a chance of returning to The O2, where they made their team debut last year.
