PARIS, France (AFP) — Jannik Sinner eased past Francisco Cerundolo 7-5, 6-1 at the Paris Masters to set up a quarterfinal clash with Ben Shelton, while reigning champion Alexander Zverev earned a straight-sets win over Alejandro Davidovich Fokina in the third round.

A maiden crown in the French capital will return Sinner to number one in the world rankings after current incumbent Carlos Alcaraz suffered a shock early exit at the hands of Britain’s Cameron Norrie.

The Italian four-time Grand Slam champion is yet to drop a set in the tournament as he hones in on what would be a fifth title of the season.

“Today I felt like the first set was very crucial. Francisco is a very talented player, it’s very difficult to play against him because his level is very high,” Sinner said on-court.

“In the second set I raised the level... and I’m very happy to be in the quarter-finals here for the first time.”

Sinner edged a close first set, which featured four consecutive breaks, when he pounced on 21st-ranked Argentinian Cerundolo’s serve at 6-5 to seize the initiative.

The 24-year-old then immediately stepped it up in the second set, racing into a 5-1 lead before serving out to book a meeting with US fifth seed Shelton in Friday’s quarter-finals.

Shelton beat Russia’s Andrey Rublev 7-6 (8/6), 6-3 to reach the Last Eight.

The victory marked another landmark moment for the 23-year-old this season — following on from his first 1000-level title, won in Toronto this summer — as he will make his debut appearance at the ATP Finals in Turin.

“It’s an accumulation of a year’s work, a lot of ups-and-downs, great results, poor results and having to bounce back,” Shelton said of reaching the season-ending event.

Zverev continued his title defence with a 6-2, 6-4 win over Spanish 15th seed Davidovich Fokina in the day’s final match-up.

The German third seed will next meet an old foe in former world No. 1 Daniil Medvedev, who fought past Lorenzo Sonego of Italy in three sets.

Zverev and Medvedev have met twice before in the Paris Masters, with the now-11th seeded Russian winning on both occasions, including the title-match in 2020.