British men’s number one Cameron Norrie stayed in the hunt for an ATP Finals spot with a straight-set victory over American Reilly Opelka in Paris.
Norrie won 6-3 6-4 to reach the third round of the Masters event, which offers significant points in the race to reach the year-end finals.
The 26-year-old will qualify if he manages to come through a strong field to triumph in the French capital.
Norrie will face Taylor Fritz, who beat Andrey Rublev, in the last 16.
American Fritz, 24, earned his third straight victory against a top-10 opponent with a 7-5 7-6 (7-2) win against the Russian fifth seed Rublev.
Norrie is aiming for a deep run in Paris to potentially land one of the two remaining spots at the season-ending finals, which start on 14 November.
The world number 13 has enjoyed the best season of his career to move into contention for a place in Turin, which has taken over from London as the host city for the year-ending event.
The left-hander has reached six finals this year, most notably when he won the prestigious Indian Wells title last month, and his improved consistency has seen him rise from 74th in the world to the top 15.
However, Norway’s Casper Ruud and Poland’s Hubert Hurkacz – both also through to the third round – remain ahead of Norrie in the race to qualify for the eight-man finals.
Italy’s Jannik Sinner dropped behind Hurkacz after losing his second-round match against Spain’s talented teenager Carlos Alcaraz.
Norrie says he is keeping a close eye on how his rivals fare in Paris, telling Amazon Prime: “I’m watching all the matches and sure everyone else is. It’s getting interesting and it’s cool to play for.”
In the doubles, Britain’s Jamie Murray and his Brazilian partner Bruno Soares won their opening match as they also aim to reach the Turin finals.
Murray and Soares, who won 7-6 (7-2) 6-2 against Mexico’s Santiago Gonzalez and Argentina’s Andres Molteni, are eighth in the doubles race and could seal their place with the Paris title.
