DAVID Goffin has missed out on qualifying for the ATP Finals following a shock second round loss to Slovakian qualifier Norbert Gombos at the Paris Masters. The eighth seed went down in a heart-breaking loss 6-4 7-6 which officially put a line through the world number 14’s hopes of playing in the most prestigious invite-only event of the year.

The 105th ranked Gombos won 75 per cent of his first serve points off a 56 per cent efficiency, breaking three times from four chances, whilst saving six of eight for Goffin’s break point opportunities. The match lasted 97 minutes before Norbert won in the tightest of second sets, getting up 8-6 in the tiebreaker. What made the victory all the more remarkable was that Goffin held three set points to take the match into a decider at 6-3, but the Slovakian hit back to win the last five points of the match and claim victory. The loss now ends Goffin’s season for 2020.

Gombos could cause more havoc on the ATP Finals race when he takes on Spaniard Pablo Carreno Busta in the next round. The world number 15 has to win the Paris Masters to have any hope of making the eight-man tournament, and even then has to rely on ninth ranked Diego Schwartzman to exit early. The consistent Spaniard got the job done in the Round of 32 though, defeating German Jan-Lennard Struff 7-6 6-2 to advance to the third round.

Carreno Busta dominated off serve, only dropping four points off his first serve, and 12 for the entire one-hour and 20-minute match, saving Struff’s only break point opportunity. By contrast, Struff only won 71 and 52 per cent of his points off serve, still managed to hold on in all bar two service games, with Carreno Busta breaking twice in the second set to run away with the contest after a nail-biting first set.

At the time of publishing, Stefanos Tsitsipas and Frenchman Ugo Humbert were locked in the tightest of tussles at a set apiece and 3-3 in the decider. Humbert won the first set in a tiebreaker 7-4, before Tsitsipas won the second 8-6. Remarkably, the Greek star faced three match points at 6-3, but won the last five points of the second set to force it into a decider. The winner will now take on Maric Cilic, who had a walkover against another Frenchman in Corentin Moutet in the Round of 32. Having just gone out on court, Italian Matteo Berrettini and American Marcos Giron were going head-to-head in the final Round of 32 match.

Looking at the first round matches played on the day to complete the Round of 64, 12th seed Stan Wawrinka blasted his way into the next stage with a 6-3 7-6 triumph over Great Britain’s Dan Evans. Wawrinka hit 35 winners and served eight aces, not being broken during the match thanks to a high 83 and 67 per cent of points off his first and second serve respectively. Evans was pretty solid too, winning 76 per cent of his first serve points, but struggled off his slower second serve, winning just 46 per cent, and was broken in the first set which cost him in the 93-minute loss.

“I’m really happy with my level today, I was serving and moving well,” Wawrinka said post-match. “I was happy to be back here in Paris, even without crowd it’s always a great tournament. “We are lucky to still have some tournaments going, so I’m trying to enjoy them as much as possible.”

Now Wawrinka will face a fellow veteran in Richard Gasquet who dominated American Taylor Fritz early before having to fight through three sets to post a victory. Gasquet trounced his younger opponent 6-0 in just 25 minutes to start the match on his home court, but Fritz fought back to win the second set before the home nation hero won in three, 6-0 3-6 6-3 in 96 minutes on court. Gasquet had two less aces (9-11), but won more of his second serve points (50 per cent to 31 per cent) which was the key difference in the end.

“I am home and I like to play here in Bercy, even if there is no crowd,” Gasquet said post-match. “I am very happy with the way I played. It is very difficult to play without the support of a crowd.”

It was a relatively good day for the French, with Pierre-Hugues Herbert coming from behind to defeat Tennys Sandgren in a third set tiebreaker, 2-6 6-4 7-6, while Adrian Mannarino posted a straight sets 7-6 6-3 win over Serbian Dusan Lajovic. The news was not as positive for Mannarino’s conqueror at Nur-Saltan with recent maiden title winner John Millman going down in straight sets to another Serbian in Miomir Kecmanovic.

In other results, Lorenzo Sonego continued his good form of late, backing up his Vienna final with a first round win over Kazakhstan’s Alexander Bublik, 6-1 6-4. Also through to the next round was 10th seed Milos Raonic who won his fifth straight match over Aljaz Bedene, only dropping six points on serve to win 6-2 6-3 in just over an hour. Kevin Anderson booked his spot in the Round of 32 after Laslo Djere pulled out trailing 5-2 in the first set, while Yoshihito Nishioka defeated Pablo Andujar in a come-from-behind 5-7 6-4 6-2 victory.

Picture: Getty Images