Nadal lands 1,000th career win after fending off Lopez in Paris Game

 Nadal lands 1,000th career win after fending off Lopez in Paris

Rafael Nadal landed the 1,000th singles win of his career as he survived an early scare at the Paris Masters.

Nadal's fellow Spaniard Feliciano Lopez went close to a major upset as the veteran pushed him all the way, but Nadal came through 4-6 7-6 (7-5) 6-4.

After sweeping to French Open glory last month without dropping a set, Wednesday's match marked Nadal's return to action and it took him two hours and 30 minutes to get the job done.

He sits fourth on the list of players with the most wins in the Open Era, behind Jimmy Connors, Roger Federer and Ivan Lendl.

There were also victories for Alexander Zverev, Diego Schwartzman, Milos Raonic and Alex de Minaur. while Daniil Medvedev went through after opponent Kevin Anderson retired due to injury during a first-set tie-break.

Away from clay, Nadal looks vulnerable in Paris

Nadal was imperious at Roland Garros, roaring through the draw on the way to his 13th French Open title.

Across town, at the Bercy Arena, it has been a different story throughout Nadal's career.

The indoor hard-court event is one he has never won and has often skipped, with this just his eighth appearances in the main draw, and this was almost a brief visit as Lopez made a storming start.

Lopez managed what nobody could at Roland Garros by swiping that first set after a break of serve in the opening game of the match, but 20-time grand slam winner Nadal stepped up his game to reach the last-16 stage and chalk up a landmark win.

The 39-year-old Lopez saved five break points in the second set to earn a tie-break, only for Nadal to edge it and then break serve for the first time at the outset of the decider.

With his hard-fought success, Nadal, 34, extended his head-to-head winning record to 10-4 against Lopez, with their rivalry having begun on an indoor carpet court in Basel back in 2003.

Likely challengers come through

German fourth seed Zverev swept to a 6-2 6-2 win against Serbian Miomir Kecmanovic, while Schwartzman swatted away Richard Gasquet, landing a 7-5 6-3 win over the Frenchman.

There was more disappointment for French hopes as Pierre-Hugues Herbert lost 6-4 6-4 to Canadian Raonic, and Russian Medvedev was embroiled in a battle with Anderson when the South African pulled out of the contest.

Sonego's early exit

Lorenzo Sonego arrived in Paris off the back of a successful week in Vienna, where he knocked out Novak Djokovic in the quarter-finals and went on to finish runner-up to Andrey Rublev.

This week will linger less in the memory for the Italian, who went down 6-3 7-5 to De Minaur.

Tsitsipas rallies but cannot escape Humbert humbling

Stefanos Tsitsipas saw his interest in the Paris Masters ended at the earliest opportunity in a second-round defeat to Ugo Humbert after three tie-breaks on Tuesday.

Second seed Tsitsipas had a bye through the first round before starting his run against Humbert, but a 7-6 (7-4) 6-7 (6-8) 7-6 (7-3) reverse means the Greek can already turn his attention towards defending his ATP Finals title.

A topsy-turvy affair was ultimately settled in Humbert's favour, although the 22-year-old looked to have ceded the initiative late in the second set.

Having battled back from a break down to take the opener, Humbert squandered three match points in the second tie-break in a remarkable collapse.

But the world number 34 - enjoying a fine year with breakthrough titles in Auckland and Antwerp - steadied himself again at the start of the decider.

Humbert once more let a lead slip but this time recovered to see out yet another breaker and claim his second career top-10 win before hailing his own mental fortitude after a marathon match lasting three hours and 17 minutes.

"I'm super happy, super proud of myself," he said. "I was mentally very strong to win this match against Tsitsipas, one of the best players in the world."

Tsitsipas added: "His serve was very consistent. Despite having opportunities where he would serve second serves [and] I could come in, be more aggressive, it didn't seem as easy as I had it planned in my head."

Humbert was one of four Frenchmen to win on Tuesday, although fellow home hopefuls Gilles Simon and Corentin Moutet exited the tournament, the latter's positive COVID-19 test granting Marin Cilic - Humbert's next opponent - a walkover.

Tsitsipas' loss came after the departure of eighth seed David Goffin, beaten in straight sets by Norbert Gombos.

Kevin Anderson advanced to face Daniil Medvedev after Laslo Djere retired, while John Millman failed to build on his first ATP Tour title win in Astana as he lost to Miomir Kecmanovic.