Just days after one of the biggest wins of his career, Alex de Minaur has bowed out tamely in his Paris Masters opener to shatter his hopes of playing in the season-ending ATP Finals.
De Minaur had put himself in a strong position to make the men's championship championship for the third-straight year after defeating new world No.1 Alexander Zverev and reaching the Vienna Open final at the weekend.
But almost as if the hammering in Sunday's championship match by Carlos Alcaraz had drained some of his confidence, Australia's world No.9 was nowhere near his best on Wednesday as No.31 Tomas Martin Etcheverry earned his first ever victory over a top-10 player 7-6 (7-2) 6-3 at Paris's Plenitude Arena.
With an inconsistent display that mirrored his uneven season, de Minaur really missed his chance when Etcheverry, who quite out-served the Aussie, had a lapse when serving at 5-6 down in the opening stanza to cough up a couple of set points.
But the Argentine rallied to take the set into a tiebreak and then proved the more patient in its long, drawn-out rallies as he took the last five points in row.
At 2-3 down in the second set, de Minaur served a crucial double fault to give Etcheverry the key break that he never looked like surrendering as he went on to win in just under two hours. Â Â
The dispiriting reverse left de Minaur stranded in ninth place in the live Race to Turin standings, the spot behind young Spanish sensation Rafael Jodar, with no chance of picking up any more points as Paris is the last qualifying event.
It means his only hope of now getting into the Turin field is if one of the current top-eight pull out. Flavio Cobolli, the Italian who's already qualified, isn't competing in Paris as he protects a leg injury but is expected to be fit for the Italian event.
But regardless of that scenario, de Minaur may well be overtaken by others before the week is out.
Earlier on Wednesday, Arthur Fils became the latest to seal his place in the Turin field -- the first Frenchman to get to the ATP Finals for a decade since Gael Monfils -- and he didn't have to hit a ball.
That was because another contender Frances Tiafoe wasted four match points in a thrilling 6-3 1-6 7-6 (11-9) second-round loss to Frenchman Quentin Halys.
Zverev also lost his first match since becoming world No.1, blowing a 5-2 lead in a first-set tiebreak en route to his 7-6 (7-5) 6-2 defeat by Lorenzo Musetti.
“It’s pretty shocking the level I was able to play," beamed Musetti.
