Andrey Rublev was knocked out in the first round of the Paris Masters tournament. The Russian lost to Argentina's Tomas Martin Etcheverry 6:4, 6:7 (4:7), 6:7 (3:7).
The match between world No. 22 Rublev and No. 31 Etcheverry lasted three sets and was decided after two tiebreaks. The Argentine won the first set 6:4, but Rublev leveled the match after winning the second-set tiebreak 7:4. In the deciding set, Etcheverry prevailed in the tiebreak once again — this time 7:3.
The defeat is Rublev's fourth consecutive first-round loss in an ATP tournament. Before Paris, he lost to Japan's Rei Sakamoto in Shanghai, France's Adrian Mannarino in Almaty and American Tommy Paul in Vienna.
In the second round, Tomas Martin Etcheverry will face Australia's Alex de Minaur, who is one of the seeded players and starts his campaign directly at this stage.
Rublev remains with 18 ATP titles. The tournament in Paris has a prize fund of €6.3 million and will conclude on November 8.