Paris Masters 2023: Americans Shelton, Tiafoe exit in opening round; Murray also loses

Andy Murray missed a match point and blew a 5-2 lead in the final set to suffer his sixth straight defeat to Alex de Minaur in the Paris Masters first round on Monday.

Britain’s Andy Murray in action. | Photo Credit: AP

Americans Ben Shelton and Frances Tiafoe both lost in the first round of the Paris Masters on Monday.

The 14th-seeded Tiafoe fell 6-3, 6-4 to Alexander Bublik while Shelton, the No. 15 seed, was undone 7-6 (4), 5-7, 6-3 by Alejandro Davidovich Fokina.

It was Bublik’s first hardcourt win at a Masters tournament since Miami last year.

Shelton, who won his maiden tour title earlier this month in Tokyo, hit 15 aces but could not recover from the only break of serve in the decider.

Also, Alex de Minaur saved one match point and rallied from 2-5 down in the third set to beat 2016 champion Andy Murray 7-6 (5), 4-6, 7-5 after a three-hour match. The 13th-seeded de Minaur is unbeaten in six matches against Murray.

De Minaur saved the match point in the ninth game of the deciding set and won the final five games to stay in contention for the ATP Finals. Five of the eight places at the year-end tournament in Turin have already been booked by Novak Djokovic, Carlos Alcaraz, Daniil Medvedev, Jannik Sinner and Andrey Rublev.

The top-ranked Djokovic, who has won the Paris Masters a record six-time, is returning to competition for the first time since he played in a Davis Cup tie for Serbia in September. The U.S. Open champion is on a 13-match winning run and will open his tournament against Miomir Kecmanovic or Tomas Martin Etcheverry.