Murray/Skupski End Granollers/Zeballos’ London Hopes In Paris

Brits Jamie Murray and Neal Skupski made their third consecutive ATP Masters 1000 quarter-final on Thursday, upsetting second seeds Marcel Granollers and Horacio Zeballos 6-3, 3-6, 11-9 at the Rolex Paris Masters.

Murray and Skupski joined forces during the grass-court season, and they have found their stride over the past few months, making the semi-finals in Cincinnati, Shanghai and at the US Open. They will next face fifth seeds Kevin Krawietz and Andreas Mies, who lifted the Roland Garros trophy this year.

Granollers and Zeballos, who were clinging to their dreams of qualifying for the Nitto ATP Finals, were not the only victims of the upset bug on Thursday. London qualifiers Rajeev Ram and Joe Salisbury ousted top seeds Juan Sebastian Cabal and Robert Farah 7-5, 5-7, 10-3. The American-British pair did not drop a service point in the Match Tie-break.

Ram and Salisbury, who triumphed in Vienna last week, will next face eighth seeds Ivan Dodig and Filip Polasek in what will be a crucial match in the ATP Doubles Race To London. Dodig and Polasek, who eliminated Jurgen Melzer and Edouard Roger-Vasselin 2-6, 6-3, 10-8, are in a tight battle with Jeremy Chardy and Fabrice Martin for the final doubles spot at the Nitto ATP Finals.

Chardy and Martin kept their hopes alive with a 6-2, 6-3 victory against Divij Sharan and Artem Sitak. They will next play seventh seeds Pierre-Hugues Herbert and Nicolas Mahut in an all-French match.

Russians Andrey Rublev and Karen Khachanov converted on eight of 11 break points to beat New Zealand’s Marcus Daniell and Austrian Philipp Oswald 6-4, 7-5. They will try to overcome Canadian Denis Shapovalov, who remains in the singles draw, and Indian Rohan Bopanna. Shapovalov and Bopanna ousted Argentine Maximo Gonzalez and American Austin Krajicek 6-1, 6-3 beind strong serving, winning 92 per cent of their first-serve points.