PARIS — Alexander Zverev secured his place in the semifinals of the Paris Masters after defeating Stefanos Tsitsipas with a score of 7-5, 6-4 on Friday. With this victory, Tsitsipas was eliminated from the running for a spot in the ATP Finals.

By triumphing over Tsitsipas, Zverev became the first player born in the 1990s to reach 100 wins against top-20 ranked opponents, surpassing Daniil Medvedev, who currently stands at 99 wins.

The third-seeded German player successfully navigated the match without conceding a single break point, marking his 64th win of the year. At 27 years old, Zverev, who was a finalist at the French Open, is aiming for a title in Paris as he prepares to face either the 2022 champion Holger Rune or Alex de Minaur in the next round. This marks Zverev’s third semifinal appearance in Paris over the last four years, though he has yet to secure a victory in this hardcourt event.

The match saw its first break point opportunity arise in the 11th game, as Tsitsipas struggled with his serve. Zverev capitalized on an unforced error by Tsitsipas to break for a 6-5 lead. Although Tsitsipas saved two set points, he wasted his only opportunity to break Zverev’s serve, contributing to his 17 unforced errors before Zverev wrapped up the first set.

Continuing his strong performance, Zverev broke serve again in the third game of the second set and maintained control throughout, winning 12 consecutive points in his final three service games. The 10th-seeded Tsitsipas, who had reached the ATP Finals for five consecutive years, struggled with a total of 28 unforced errors against 18 winners.

In the later matches on Friday, Ugo Humbert, a local favorite, was set to compete against Australia’s Jordan Thompson, following Humbert’s stunning victory over Carlos Alcaraz the previous day. In another match, the eighth seed Grigor Dimitrov was scheduled to face 2018 champion Karen Khachanov.

Notably, top-ranked player Jannik Sinner withdrew from the Paris Masters, along with record seven-time champion Novak Djokovic. The ATP Finals in Turin are set to commence on November 10.