Paris - 07/11

Good morning and welcome back to TIE-Breakfast: all the tennis you need with breakfast.

Ace Cream's daily newsletter during Masters 1000s and Grand Slams, every morning at 8:30.

Today is Saturday, November 7, and in Paris it is 08:30 and 3 degrees. Ok, here we go.

Today at Breakfast

• 🇪🇸 Alcaraz saves two match points against Fritz, Jodar goes to Turin
• 🇺🇸 Shelton beats Paul and sends Tiafoe to the Finals
• 🇫🇷 Van Assche into the semifinals, Ruud ends Borges's run
• 🏆 Semifinals today: Shelton-Van Assche and Alcaraz-Ruud

WHAT HAPPENED:

🇪🇸 Alcaraz saves two match points against Fritz, Jodar goes to Turin

Carlos Alcaraz came from behind to beat Taylor Fritz 6-7(10), 7-5, 6-3, after saving two match points. With that win, the last spot in Turin goes to Rafael Jodar, who had lost to Ruud in the second round in Paris.

Afterwards Alcaraz admitted he played nervously early on and said this will probably be "one of the most special matches" of his career. Today he meets Ruud, who stopped Jodar on Tuesday, and the feeling is that a night like that leaves behind confidence and fatigue in proportions that are hard to measure, at least until the first game today.

🇺🇸 Shelton beats Paul and sends Tiafoe to the Finals

Ben Shelton, the No. 3 seed, beat Tommy Paul 6-4, 4-6, 6-3 in the all-American derby.

Paul's defeat qualified Frances Tiafoe, who was knocked out on Wednesday by Halys after missing four match points. Turin, from November 15 to 22, will have Zverev, Alcaraz, Shelton, Medvedev, Cobolli, Fils, Tiafoe and Jodar, with de Minaur and Fritz as alternates. It is curious that Tiafoe and Jodar took their places on a day when they were not playing, watching the others from the outside.

🇫🇷 Van Assche into the semifinals, Ruud ends Borges's run

Luca Van Assche, world No. 47, beat Rinky Hijikata 6-4, 6-7(4), 7-5 and is into his first Masters 1000 semifinal. Casper Ruud beat Nuno Borges 7-6(5), 6-4 and ended the Portuguese lucky loser's run.

For Hijikata, a week that started in qualifying and included a comeback against Djokovic is over. Today Van Assche will have the home crowd behind him and Shelton's serve on the other side of the net. Ruud, meanwhile, gets his revenge for Basel and his eleventh Masters 1000 semifinal.

WHAT'S HAPPENING TODAY:

• Shelton vs Van Assche (14:30) - First meeting. Shelton is already qualified for Turin, Van Assche plays the first Masters 1000 semifinal of his career with the home crowd on his side.
• Alcaraz vs Ruud (to follow, not before 17:00) - Alcaraz leads the head-to-head 6-1 and won the last one, at Indian Wells in March, 6-1, 7-6(2). Ruud's only win came on the indoor hard court of the 2024 Finals in Turin.

Read More

• ATP Paris: Fritz wastes two match points and Alcaraz comes back. Jodar to the Finals
• ATP Paris: Shelton sends Tiafoe to the ATP Finals, semifinal against Van Assche
• "I have to figure out why I played so nervous": Alcaraz after the win over Fritz
• Ruud halts lucky loser Borges in Paris to set up Alcaraz semi-final

Enjoy your breakfast and have a great day.

See you tomorrow at 08:30 with TIE-Breakfast.