Tommy Paul never lost his serve and struck late in both sets as the American 12th seed beat France’s Quentin Halys 7-6 (3), 6-4 in the last 16 of the Paris Masters 1000 on Thursday. The World No. 14 needed 1 hour 36 minutes to see off Halys, ranked at his career high of 46th, and will face third seed Ben Shelton or Arthur Rinderknech in the quarter-finals.

Paul won it 7-3, converting his third set point. Paul finally broke at 5-4, converting his second match point. The American won 43 of 45 points behind his first serve and saved the only break point he faced, while Halys saved seven of eight.

Paul opened his week with a 7-5, 6-4 win over Denmark’s Holger Rune, then beat Spain’s Daniel Merida 6-1, 6-1 in the second round. His 2026 season has already brought four finals, including his title in Houston.

Halys, the French No. 4, had beaten Britain’s Arthur Fery 7-6 (6), 7-5 and American Frances Tiafoe, the World No. 8, 6-3, 1-6, 7-6 (9) earlier in the week. Speaking in French at his press conference on Wednesday, he had said he felt able to win but expected a difficult match against an American who moves well.

Rolex Paris Masters 2026 third-round results

Lorenzo Musetti vs Luca Van Assche
Rinky Hijikata (Q) vs Tomas Martin Etcheverry
Ben Shelton (3) vs Arthur Rinderknech
Tommy Paul (12) d. Quentin Halys 7-6 (3), 6-4
Jan-Lennard Struff (SE) vs Casper Ruud
Nuno Borges (LL) vs Ignacio Buse
Arthur Fils (6) vs Taylor Fritz (11)
Carlos Alcaraz (2) d. Matteo Berrettini w/o