A free pass into the last eight
Carlos Alcaraz reached the quarter-finals of the Rolex Paris Masters on Thursday without stepping onto the court, after Matteo Berrettini pulled out of their scheduled third-round meeting. The Italian cited pain in his arm as the reason for withdrawing from the evening match in the French capital. The Spaniard now advances directly, and the tournament confirmed his qualification in a post on social media.[S1][S2]
Berrettini explained his decision in a statement posted in Italian on Instagram stories, saying the discomfort had troubled him for several days and would not let him compete that night. He added that he would undergo the full set of tests in the days ahead to establish what the problem is, and thanked supporters for the backing he receives on and off the court.[S1][S2]
What waits for Alcaraz in Paris
In the last eight, Alcaraz will take on either the home favourite Arthur Fils or the American Taylor Fritz. The two were due to meet in Thursday's night session. Fils became the first French player to secure a place at the ATP Finals since Gael Monfils in 2016 earlier this week, while Fritz sits 11th in the Race To Turin and needs to beat both Fils and Alcaraz to keep his own qualification hopes alive.[S1]
The Spaniard is pursuing his fifth tour-level title of the season and has already booked his spot at the ATP Finals in Turin later this month. His 2026 haul so far comprises the Australian Open, the Qatar Open, the Japan Open and last week's Vienna Open, and his season record stands at 39 wins against five defeats. Across six previous appearances at this indoor hard-court event, he has never gone beyond the quarter-finals, so a semi-final place would be new ground.[S1]
Berrettini's best Paris run ends early
The withdrawal closes what had been Berrettini's strongest showing at the Paris Masters. Before this week he had never won a main-draw match there; he opened with a three-set win over Brandon Nakashima on November 3, taking the deciding tie-break 7-6(8), then defeated France's Ugo Humbert 7-6(3), 7-5 on November 4 in one hour and 46 minutes, coming back from 4-1 down in the second set.[S2]
The Italian had arrived in Paris off a quarter-final appearance at the Vienna Open, where he beat Tomas Martin Etcheverry in the first round and advanced when Flavio Cobolli retired while trailing 5-2 in their second-round match. His run there ended on October 30 against Alex de Minaur, who won 7-6(4), 6-2.[S2]
