Russian third seed Daniil Medvedev was the first player to reach the Paris Masters semi-finals with a 6-3 6-1 win against Argentina’s Diego Schwartzman.

Schwartzman needed victory to ensure he qualified as the last man for the top-eight ATP Finals in London from November 15 but went down in just 62 minutes.

Schwarzman is, however, still well positioned as Spain’s Pablo Carreno Busta would have to beat top-seeded compatriot Rafael Nadal in his quarter-final later on Friday and then go on to lift the Paris title to deny the Argentine a place in the London field.

Medvedev, who defeated Australian No.1 Alex de Minaur in the previous round, rallied to break Schwartzman twice for the first set lead after just 35 minutes.

A rapid forehand reply from Medvedev earned another break in the second set for a 3-1 advantage before he completed a winning run of three straight games with an ace.

“I think Diego is capable of playing better so didn’t show his best tennis,” said Medvedev, who has already qualified for the season finale in London.

“With Diego, you know you’re going to have long rallies so it was good for me to win in such a short time. It was good preparation for London, even without the spectators.”

All matches in France are played behind closed doors because of coronavirus restrictions.