Swiss qualifier Marc-Andrea Huesler cruised to a victory on Monday, upsetting 11th seed Jannik Sinner of Italy 6-2, 6-3 in the first round of the Rolex Paris Masters in France.
It was a dominating performance for Huesler, who notched 20 winners against just three unforced errors. He also swatted six aces compared to Sinner’s two.
Sinner took leads of 1-0 and 2-1 in the second set, but those were the only instances where he maintained an edge for the entirety of the match.
“I had two good matches in the qualies, I came out here and had nothing to lose today. That helped me play very aggressive,” Huesler said. “It was not his best match, for sure, but I had to be ready to take that (opportunity). I just stayed at it, and I’m really happy with the win.”
Huesler will have a second-round meeting with Russia’s Karen Khachanov, who took down Argentinian Sebastian Baez 6-1, 6-1 on Monday.
“Karen is a big server, for sure,” Huesler said. “I played against him once before in Davis Cup, lost in two sets there. Honestly every guy here is hard to beat. I’m thrilled to play against these guys. I’m here to do my best and I have a lot of confidence in my game.”
Lorenzo Musetti of Italy also pulled off an upset, taking down 15th-seeded Croatian Marin Cilic 6-4, 6-4.
Ninth-seeded American Taylor Fritz defeated Alejandro Davidovich Fokina of Spain 7-5, 6-2, British No. 12 seed Cameron Norrie trampled Serbian Miomir Kecmanovic 6-2, 6-4 and 16th-seeded American Frances Tiafoe ousted qualifier Lorenzo Sonego of Italy 6-4, 6-4 to avoid being toppled by underdogs.
Americans in action Monday went 4-for-5, as Maxime Cressy and John Isner were victorious alongside Fritz and Tiafoe. Sebastian Korda fell 6-4, 4-6, 6-4 to Australia’s Alex de Minaur in the final match of the day.
Other winners included Georgia’s Nikoloz Basilashvili, French wild cards Richard Gasquet and Gilles Simon, Yoshihito Nishioka of Japan and Swedish qualifier Mikael Ymer.
–Field Level Media