Nadal topples Thompson to reach Paris Masters

 Nadal topples Thompson to reach Paris Masters 

Rafael Nadal will face Pablo Carreno Busta in an all-Spanish Paris Masters quarter-final after beating Jordan Thompson in straight sets.

Nadal needed three sets to secure the 1,000th ATP Tour-level victory of his career at the expense of Feliciano Lopez on Wednesday.

The top seed followed that up with a 6-1 7-6 (7-3) defeat of world number 61 Thompson in Bercy, reaching the quarter-finals of the tournament for an eighth time out of eight.

Nadal lost just 12 points behind his serve as Thompson failed to break the 20-time grand slam champion in the first meeting between the two on Thursday.

Ninth seed Carreno Busta stands in the way of Nadal and a place in the last four, as one of the all-time greats attempts to win the tournament for the first time.

Nadal was up against it in a battle with veteran Lopez before sealing a landmark win, but there was no slow start from the legendary left-hander in his third-round contest.

He held to love in the first game and in the fifth, then took a 5-1 lead with a deft volley at the net after drilling a rasping return and an inside-out forehand to Thompson's left.

The world number two wrapped up the set in only 32 minutes by winning a fifth consecutive game, but it was a different story in the second as Australian Thompson warmed to the task.

Thompson threw down his racket and was shaking his head after failing to win a set point before Nadal took it to a tie-break, which he won with a combination of thunderous winners and errors from his opponent.

Rublev beats Sonego to win Vienna Open and reach ATP Finals

Andrey Rublev won the Vienna Open after a confident 6-4 6-4 victory over surprise contender Lorenzo Sonego to book his place at the ATP Finals in London.

The Russian wrapped up the win at the Wiener Stadthalle in an hour and 19 minutes on Sunday as he clinched his fifth ATP title of the season.

Unheralded Sonego, ranked at number 42 in the world, had reached the final in the wake of a shock quarter-final win over world number Novak Djokovic but could not repeat the feat against a clinical Rublev.

"This tournament is really special for me because my grandma was also Austrian, so I have Austrian blood," Rublev said during the trophy presentation.

Italian Sonego found no way past Rublev's serve as he failed to inflict a single break.

It ensured Rublev ended the tournament without once surrendering his serve in 38 games – becoming the first player to achieve the feat in an ATP tournament since Alex de Minaur reeled off 42 games at Atlanta in 2019.

Rublev moved to the top of the ATP Tour titles leaderboard, one ahead of Djokovic, and will make his first appearance at the Finals in London later this month.

He became the seventh player to qualify for the November 15-22 event, where he will join Djokovic, Rafael Nadal, Dominic Thiem, Stefanos Tsitsipas, Daniil Medvedev and Alexander Zverev.

The world number eight seized advantage in the first set when, with the score locked at 2-2, Sonego made two forehand errors which enabled Rublev to break.

Rublev offered two break points when serving for the first set, yet Sonego was unable to take that chance.

Sonego battled gamely in the second set, but at 4-4 his backhand let him down and Rublev was ruthless as he closed out victory.