Alcaraz, Djokovic advance, Musetti upsets Ruud in Paris

PARIS: Its the first time that teenagers both are 19 years old will square off in a Paris Masters quarterfinal. Auger-Aliassime, who is bidding to win a fourth straight title, defeated French veteran Gilles Simon 6-1 6-3 at the indoor hard-court event. Lorenzo Musetti upset US Open runner-up Casper Ruud 4-6 6-4 6-4, while American player Frances Tiafoe defeated Alex De Minaur 6-3 7-6 5.

Top-ranked Carlos Alcaraz advanced to the quarterfinals at the Paris Masters with a 6-1 6-3 win over Grigor Dimitrov, when Felix Auger-Aliassime reached the last eight by winning his 15th consecutive match.

Alcaraz, the US Open champion, will next play Holger Rune for a place in the semifinals after the Danish teenager beat Andrey Rublev 6-4 7-5 on Thursday. It's the first time that teenagers — both are 19 years old — will square off in a Paris Masters quarterfinal.

Auger-Aliassime, who is bidding to win a fourth straight title, defeated French veteran Gilles Simon 6-1 6-3 at the indoor hard-court event.

Lorenzo Musetti upset US Open runner-up Casper Ruud 4-6 6-4 6-4, while American player Frances Tiafoe defeated Alex De Minaur 6-3 7-6 (5). Tiafoe has a career-best 35 wins in 2022.

The 20-year-old Musetti will play Novak Djokovic in the quarterfinals after the 21-time Grand Slam champion beat Karen Khachanov of Russia 6-4 6-1.

Djokovic extended his winning streak in tour-level matches to 11 as he chases a seventh title at the tournament. American Tommy Paul beat Pablo Carreno Busta 6-4 6-4 and will next face fifth-ranked Stefanos Tsitsipas, who eliminated French qualifier Corentin Moutet 6-3 7-6 (3) to earn his tour-leading 59th win of the year.