Former champion Daniil Medvedev suffered a shock defeat at the ATP Paris Masters 1000 on Wednesday, losing a three-set battle against Australian rival Alex de Minaur.
Fourth seed Medvedev slumped to a 4-6 6-2 5-7 loss in the French capital against his world number 25 opponent.
After winning his second tour title of the season in Vienna at the weekend, Medvedev never fully found his rhythm in a war of attrition with De Minaur, who had previously not beaten a top-five player in 18 attempts.
Medvedev dropped the opening set after being broken in game ten, but the Russian responded immediately by breaking his rival at the first time of asking to start the second set. Medvedev converted another break point in game seven before seeing out the set 6-2.
The Russian repeated the trick to break the De Minaur serve at the start of the decisive third set, but the Australian, 23, demonstrated he was far from done by breaking back to level at 2-2.
Medvedev spurned a break opportunity in game nine but was then forced to save two match points on his own serve before leveling at 5-5.
De Minaur continued to turn the screws, finally making the breakthrough when a frustrated Medvedev double-faulted on match point at 5-6 down.
The Russian hammered his racket into the court in anger before making his way to the net to congratulate his opponent.
In total, Medvedev converted just three of the 15 break points he engineered in the contest, while De Minaur won three of the ten break opportunities he earned on his rival’s serve.
Given the 1000 ATP ratings points on offer in Paris, the early exit will be a blow for Medvedev as he aims to recapture the world number one spot which he occupied for a total of 16 weeks during 2022.
Medvedev, 26, won the Paris Masters title in 2020 and was a beaten finalist last year, losing to Novak Djokovic.
But after his early exit this time round, he will have to regroup ahead of the season-ending ATP Finals, which get underway in Turin later this month.
Fresh from one of the biggest wins of his career, De Minaur moves on to play Frances Tiafoe in the third round, after the American number 16 seed overcame Britain’s Jack Draper in straight sets in their second-round meeting on Wednesday.
Russia continues to have representation in Paris, with 2018 champion Karen Khachanov playing six-time winner Novak Djokovic in the third round on Thursday.
Andrey Rublev will be in action on the same day, with his opponent yet to be determined.