As the top 10 players jostle for position for the ATP Finals in Turin, Australia's Jordan Thompson has made a strong start to the Paris Masters, beating Pedro Martinez Portero 6-4 6-4.
Thompson, the world No.28, will face seventh seed Casper Ruud in the second round after his victory at the Accor Arena on Monday (Tuesday AEDT).
Thompson, 30, will not be heading to Turin but he is ending the year strongly: he is inside the top 30 for singles and had a US Open doubles triumph alongside fellow Aussie Max Purcell in September.
The Sydneysider fired down nine aces and broke the Spaniard's serve in each set, while never dropping his own.
On court in Paris on Wednesday (AEDT, Alex de Minaur will continue his dogged pursuit of a place in the end-of-season finale in Turin, from November 10-17, against Mariano Navone of Argentina.
De Minaur is seeded ninth in the French capital and is also ninth in the chase for qualification for Turin. After reaching the semi-finals in Vienna last week, he has closed the gap to less than 200 points on Andrey Rublev, who occupies the eighth and final spot.
Fellow Aussie Alexei Popyrin will also be in action, against Italy's Matteo Berrettini, the world No.36.
Local favourite Hugo Humbert put out Brandon Nakashima of the United States 6-3 4-6 6-4 and will take on another American, Marcos Giron, who defeated Shang Juncheng in two tiebreakers.
Dutchman Tallon Griekspoor advanced with a 6-3 6-4 win over Luciano Darderi, to set up a clash with Alexander Zverev and Tomas Martin Etcheverry of Argentina beat Zhang Zhizhen 6-3 7-6 (8-6) to tee up a meeting with Grigor Dimitrov.
Greek Stefanos Tsitsipas, the tenth seed, won a three-setter against Spain's Roberto Carballes Baena for 100th Masters 1000 win of his career, while there were also first-up victories for Chilean duo Nicolas Jarry and Alejandro Tabilo, Alexander Bublik and Adrian Mannarino.
Zverev, the No.3 seed in Paris, announced on Monday that he will not play for Germany in next month's Davis Cup Finals, scheduled for November 19-24 in Malaga, because he wants an extended period of rest ahead of the 2025 season.
Zverev has suffered from injuries this year and was recently also diagnosed with pneumonia after complaining about lung problems. He will play in Turin, but that will be his last 2024 event.
His 2025 season starts on December 29 at the United Cup in Australia when defending champions Germany play Brazil.
"I've been forced to make the difficult decision to end the season after the ATP Finals so that I have enough time to recover and be back at 100 per cent for the United Cup and the Australian Open," Zverev said.
"It was a very challenging season in which I had to play through a knee injury in order to be able to take part in the Olympic Games.
"Now I'm doing my best to finish the season well despite problems with my lung."
Novak Djokovic has already withdrawn from the Paris Masters, casting doubt on his availability for Turin.
The four qualifiers so far are Jannik Sinner, Carlos Alcaraz, Zverev and Daniil Medvedev.
With agencies.
