Two points from his season ending, Grigor Dimitrov lives another day in ATP Finals race

In a Paris Masters match that began on Halloween and crossed into early Friday, Grigor Dimitrov pulled out one last trick to keep his 2024 season alive for another day.

Arthur Rinderknech, who received a wild card when Gael Monfils withdrew, had five wins at the ATP Masters 1000 level coming into this week. He nearly added three in four days, until Dimitrov snatched the final four points to survive, 6-2, 4-6, 7-6 (5).

Once the two competitors split sets, break point opportunities were nowhere to be found in the decider. The nail-biting play continued in the tiebreak, where the server won the first seven points.

After Rinderknech fired consecutive aces, Dimitrov pushed a backhand slice long to concede the mini break. With two serves on his racquet to extend his run, the former Texas A&M standout blinked.

Rindknech decelerated on a forehand to dump it into the net, before the No. 8 seed made his move on the next point. Working the corners, Dimitrov came in off an inside-out forehand to block a backhand volley into the open court. Rinderknech had time to make a play, but mistimed his swing. Seconds later, a victory that seemed so close vanished when Dimitrov’s serve proved unreturnable.

A finalist here last year, Dimitrov remains at No. 10 in the race. He can earn his way to Turin by lifting the trophy and needs to reach the final to have a chance of qualifying, with a pair of ATP 250 tournaments taking place next week in Belgrade and Metz.

Fellow ATP Finals contenders Alex de Minaur, Stefanos Tsitsipas and Holger Rune earlier advanced to the last eight. De Minaur overtook Andrey Rublev for No. 8, while Tstisipas and Rune need to capture the crown to have any shot of making the prestigious eight-man field.