Australian Alex de Minaur’s recent good run of form continued before compatriot Jordan Thompson pulled off one of his best wins as the pair booked their places in the last 16 of the Paris Masters.
De Minaur, the country’s No.1 men’s player, battled past the in-form Italian Lorenzo Sonego 6-3 7-5.
Then Thompson came from a set down to defeat Croatia’s Borna Coric, ranked 37 places above him on the ATP computer, 2-6 6-4 6-2.
De Minaur, who reached the final of the Antwerp Open in his most recent European outing last month, took an hour and 27 minutes to subdue Sonego, who was coming off one of the best weeks of his career.
The Italian had reached the final of the Erste Bank Open in Vienna at the weekend, having destroyed the world No.1 Novak Djokovic en route.
Yet Sonego was brought down to earth quickly by the 21-year-old De Minaur, who broke him twice in the opening set to take it convincingly in 38 minutes.
It was tighter in the second set as De Minaur was unable to convert a couple of break points mid-set but with the scent of victory, the 16th seed pounced superbly at 6-5 up to break Sonego’s delivery for the third time in the match, this time to love.
In contrast, the Australian world No.25 didn’t even offer the sniff of a break to the man ranked seven places below him.
De Minaur’s bid to reach the quarter-finals, though, looks rather tougher as he will have to get past Daniil Medvedev, the third seed.
The Russian was leading 5-2 in the first-set tiebreak when his South African opponent, Kevin Anderson, had to retire with a right leg injury.
Thompson, currently ranked fourth in Australia, lost the first set to Coric, the world No.24, and looked in massive trouble when the Croatian broke for a 2-0 lead in the second.
Yet demonstrating considerable resilience, the 26-year-old from Sydney not only hit back to take that set but also recovered from another break of serve early in the decider to go on to a fine win in two and a quarter hours.
He will next face the daunting task of playing either No.1 seed Rafael Nadal or his Spanish compatriot Feliciano Lopez.
Meanwhile, Alexander Zverev continued his superb run, taking just 55 minutes to defeat Miomir Kecmanovic 6-2 6-2 and extend his winning streak to nine matches as he seeks to capture a third straight Tour trophy after his Cologne double last month.
Diego Schwartzman made a good start in his bid to qualify for the season-ending ATP Finals with his 7-5 6-3 victory over Frenchman Richard Gasquet.
After his win, Schwartzman sent a message of support to his namesake and sporting idol Diego Maradona, who is recovering from surgery to treat a blood clot on his brain.
Schwartzman signed the words “#FuerzaDiego” on a TV camera after the match and explained: “I didn’t see (Maradona) play, just on YouTube or videos that I can see on TV and everything, not live, but he’s one of my idols, for sure, in football.”
