Australia’s Alex de Minaur has been knocked out of the Paris Masters after a 6-3 6-4 loss to Stefanos Tsitsipas.
It took 21-year-old Tsitsipas – who had 11 aces in the contest – just 69 minutes to defeat de Minaur in the French capital.
Tsitsipas will now face four-time champion Novak Djokovic in the quarter-finals following his 50th ATP win of the season – a 7-6 (9-7) 6-1 win against Kyle Edmund.
De Minaur had lost his previous two encounters with young Greek star Tsitsipas, and suffered an early blow when he lost his opening service game of the contest on Thursday.
Tsitsipas broke again in the ninth game, claiming the first set 6-3 with an ace.
The world No.7 broke for the third time in the ninth game of the second set, sealing a 6-4 win to maintain his 100 per cent record against 20-year-old De Minaur.
Tsitsipas’ victory was his 100th tour-level win in 160 matches, reaching the century of wins faster than seven of the other members of the top 10, excluding Rafael Nadal (137) and Djokovic (143).
De Minaur will now play the Next Gen ATP Finals in Milan next week.
Djokovic awaits Tsitsipas in the last eight, and the four-time champion is looking close to his best.
After needing seven set points to clinch the first set against Edmund, the top-ranked Serb reeled off six successive games in the second, finishing it off by breaking his British opponent to love with a two-handed backhand winner into the left corner.
He turned quickly to give his box a look of steely determination and former Wimbledon champion Goran Ivanisevic – who joined his coaching team at this year’s Wimbledon – stood to applaud him for his 50th win of the season.
“It was because my coach told me I don’t have a great return. So finishing off with a return winner, I kind of gave him a look. No I’m joking,” said Djokovic, who is widely considered among the game’s greatest ever returners.
The 16-time grand slam champion served well, too, winning 89 per cent of first serve points won and conceding no break points.
“I have not played my best yesterday, so of course I was hoping I can do as well as I did in second set. The look was about that.”
Grigor Dimitrov also advanced by beating Dominic Thiem 6-3 6-2, breaking the fifth-seeded Austrian fourth seed’s serve four times.
The Bulgarian did not face a break point and next plays Cristian Garin, an unseeded Chilean who saved three match points in a 6-7 (7-4) 6-4 7-6 (6) win against Jeremy Chardy.
In Thursday’s later matches, world No.2 Rafael Nadal is facing Stan Wawrinka for the 22nd time with an 18-3 .
Nadal can guarantee the year-end No.1 ranking for the fifth time if he wins this tournament for the first time, while Djokovic seeks a record-tying sixth year-end finish with the top ranking.
