Paris Masters 2021: Stefanos Tsitsipas' Upset Loss Highlights Wednesday's Results

Some of the top names in men's tennis opened their accounts in the second round of the Rolex Paris Masters on Wednesday.

The tournament represents a final opportunity to build some momentum and work out any kinks before the ATP Finals, which open Nov. 14 in Turin, Italy. 

Daniil Medvedev, Alexander Zverev and Stefanos Tsitsipas were among the marquee stars looking to earn a victory in the French capital.

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Wednesday Results

Alexei Popyrin def. No. 3 Stefanos Tsitsipas 4-2(ret.)

No. 4 Alexander Zverev def. Dusan Lajovic 6-3, 7-6(5)

Taylor Fritz def. No. 5 Andrey Rublev 7-5, 7-6(2)

No. 7 Hubert Hurkacz def. Tommy Paul 7-5, 7-6(4)

Carlos Alcaraz def. No. 8 Jannik Sinner 7-6(1), 7-5

Dominik Koepfer def. No. 9 Felix Auger-Aliassime 6-3, 7-5

No. 10 Cameron Norrie def. Reilly Opelka 6-3, 6-4

Marcos Giron def. No. 11 Diego Schwartzman 7-6(2), 7-6(4)

Hugo Gaston def. No. 12 Pablo Carreno Busta 6-7(3), 6-4, 7-5

No. 15 Gael Monfils def. Adrian Mannarino 2-6, 7-6(4), 6-2

No. 16 Grigor Dimitrov def. Karen Khachanov 4-6, 6-2, 6-0

James Duckworth def. Lorenzo Musetti 6-3, 3-6, 6-3

No. 2 Daniil Medvedev def. Ilya Ivashka 7-5, 6-4

Sebastian Korda def. Marin Cilic 6-2, 6-4

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Thursday Schedule

Court Central

Dominik Koepfer vs. No. 7 Hubert Hurkacz

No. 10 Cameron Norrie vs. Taylor Fritz

No. 1 Novak Djokovic vs. No. 15 Gael Monfils

No. 16 Grigor Dimitrov vs. No. 4 Alexander Zverev

Sebastian Korda vs. Daniil Medvedev

Carlos Alcaraz vs. Hugo Gaston

Full schedule available at ATPTour.com

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Wednesday Recap

Tsitsipas had one eye on the Finals when he retired while trailing 2-4 in the first set against Alexei Popyrin. He told reporters after the match that he has been dealing with a lingering injury, declining to specify the nature of the problem.

"I haven't retired once in my life, and it was something that I had to do today," the French Open runner-up said. "I'm trying to be precautious for the next tournament, which is the most important one for me."

Simply losing to Popyrin unlikely would've raised any alarm bells ahead of Tsitsipas' trip to Italy. He has some time to rest what appeared to be an injured right arm, but his odds of coming out on top in Turin aren't looking good at the moment. 

Zverev, on the other hand, navigated his way to the round of 16.

A service break in the first set helped the German build an early 3-0 lead, only for Dusan Lajovic to earn a break of his own. However, Lajovic immediately dropped serve again to put Zverev back in the driver's seat, and he saw out the set.

Neither player dropped serve at all in the second frame as they staved off 10 combined break-point opportunities. The tiebreaker was similarly contentious, with the pair splitting the first eight points evenly.

Lajovic eventually found himself serving to stay alive at 5-6. Before the rally could get started, he sailed a backhand long to end the match.

Zverev wound up with 14 aces and won 80 percent of his first-serve points. His dominance on serve left little route for Lajovic to pull off the upset.