Of the five French representatives in the round of 16 of the Rolex Paris Masters, only Ugo Humbert will see the quarter-finals. The last Habs to take to the track this Thursday evening, in the wake of Humbert’s exploit against Alcaraz, Arthur Rinderknech once thought he could extend the party in the bays of Bercy. The Frenchman was two points away from offering himself his first member of the top 10 and his first quarter in Masters 1000, but he finally gave in in the tie-break of the third set against Grigor Dimitrov (6-2, 4-6, 7 -6[6]).
First a tone below the world number 9 in a one-sided first set, Rinderknech tightened the screw, particularly in the service. A sufficient adjustment to restart the game against a Bulgarian who is still elegant but no longer so dominant. The last round saw both players win their face-offs without trembling, effectively confirming that everything would be decided in a final tie-break.
Unimpressive, Dimitrov never gave the feeling of trembling. Master of his emotions, including when he found himself trailing 5-3 in this decisive game, he chained together four points in a row by snatching the victory with a final well-hit outside service. He will meet Karen Kachanov in the quarterfinals.
