Sinner reaches Paris Masters quarterfinals and stays on course for No. 1 ranking, Zverev wins

PARIS (AP) — Jannik Sinner beat Francisco Cerundolo 7-5, 6-1 in the third round of the Paris Masters on Thursday to extend his indoor winning streak to 23 matches and maintain his chances of reclaiming the No. 1 ranking.

The four-time Grand Slam champion needs to win the tournament to take the top spot from Carlos Alcaraz. Sinner's quarterfinal opponent on Friday will be Ben Shelton.

The fifth-seeded American beat 12th-seeded Andrey Rublev 7-6 (6), 6-3 to secure his place in the eight-man, season-ending ATP Finals in Turin, Italy.

Sinner is chasing a fifth title of the year and 23rd overall. He won an ATP 500 tournament in Vienna last Sunday despite having cramps.

“Hopefully, I can recover physically, which is my main priority" Sinner said ahead of his eighth match against Shelton. "Today was a great match and a great performance from my side.”

He leads Shelton 6-1 overall.

Meanwhile, defending champion Alexander Zverev downed 15th-seeded Alejandro Davidovich Fokina 6-2, 6-4.

The third-seeded German won on his first match point with an ace and next takes on 11th-seeded Daniil Medvedev, the 2020 champion.

They meet for the 22nd time in an often intense rivalry, which Medvedev leads 14-7 having won their past five encounters.

There seems to be no stopping the 40th-ranked Valentin Vacherot, who reached another Masters quarterfinal by beating Cameron Norrie 7-6 (4), 6-4.

Already this month, Vacherot made a stunning run from the qualifiers to win the Shanghai Masters for his first career title, after entering it ranked 240th.

He downed 24-time Grand Slam champion Novak Djokovic in the semifinals and beat his own cousin Arthur Rinderknech in the final.

“I never expected it,” Vacherot said. “Good thing that I keep going here, maybe enjoying the matches even more than in Shanghai.”

Vacherot, who is from Monaco, beat Rinderknech again in the second round here in Paris, setting up a match against Norrie after the British player eliminated Alcaraz.

Vacherot had five aces and saved all five break points against Norrie, who dropped serve once.

Vacherot next faces ninth-seeded Felix Auger-Aliassime, who rallied past Daniel Altmaier 3-6, 6-3, 6-2. Victory maintained Auger-Aliassime's chances of reaching the eight-man, season-ending ATP Finals in Turin, Italy.

Fourth-seeded American Taylor Fritz lost 7-6 (5), 6-2 to No. 13 seed Alexander Bublik; No. 6 Alex De Minaur won 6-2, 6-2 against 2018 champion Karen Khachanov; and Medvedev reached his 25th Masters quarterfinal with a 3-6, 7-6 (5), 6-4 win over Lorenzo Sonego.

De Minaur qualified for the ATP Finals for the second consecutive season and Shelton for the first time, leaving one spot left.

AP tennis: https://apnews.com/hub/tennis

Germany's Alexander Zverev celebrates after defeating Argentina's Camilo Ugo Carabelli during their second round match of the Paris Masters tennis tournament at the Paris La Defense Arena, Wednesday, Oct. 29, 2025, in Paris. (AP Photo/Christophe Ena)

Italy's Jannik Sinner serves against Argentina's Francisco Cerundolo during their third round match of the Paris Masters tennis tournament in Paris, France, Thursday, Oct. 30, 2025. (AP Photo/Christophe Ena)

Italy's Jannik Sinner looks on as he plays against Argentina's Francisco Cerundolo during their third round match of the Paris Masters tennis tournament in Paris, France, Thursday, Oct. 30, 2025. (AP Photo/Christophe Ena)

Felix Auger-Aliassime of Canada reacts after defeating Daniel Altmaier of Germany during their third round match at the Paris Masters tennis tournament at the Paris La Defense Arena, Thursday, Oct. 30, 2025, in Paris. (AP Photo/Michel Euler)

Cameron Norrie of Great Britain returns the ball to Valentin Vacherot of Monaco during their third round men's singles match at the Paris Masters tennis tournament at the Paris La Defense Arena, Thursday, Oct. 30, 2025, in Paris. (AP Photo/Michel Euler)

Vacherot of Monaco celebrates winning a point from Cameron Norrie of Great Britain during their third round men's singles match at the Paris Masters tennis tournament at the Paris La Defense Arena, Thursday, Oct. 30, 2025, in Paris. (AP Photo/Michel Euler)

Vacherot of Monaco serves the ball to Cameron Norrie of Great Britain during their third round men's singles match at the Paris Masters tennis tournament at the Paris La Defense Arena, Thursday, Oct. 30, 2025, in Paris. (AP Photo/Michel Euler)

NEW YORK (AP) — Ten years ago, Kim Gordon — a revolutionary force in the alternative rock band Sonic Youth, the ’80s New York no wave scene and the space between art and noise — debuted solo music. At the time, she was already decades into a celebrated, mixed-medium creative career.

The midtempo “Murdered Out” was her first single, where clangorous, overdubbed guitars met the unmistakable rasp of her deadpan intonations. It was a surprise from an experimentalist well-versed in the unexpected: The song took inspiration from Los Angeles car culture, and its main collaborator was the producer Justin Raisen, then best known for his pop work with Sky Ferreira and Charli XCX. Their partnership has continued in the decade since, and on March 13, Gordon will drop her third solo album, “Play Me,” announced Wednesday alongside the release of a hazy, transcendent single, “Not Today.”

“It was a happy accident,” she says of her continued work with Raisen. “In the beginning, I was somewhat skeptical of working with a producer and collaborator, really. But it’s turned out to be incredibly freeing.”

“Play Me” follows Gordon's critically lauded, beat-heavy 2024 album “The Collective,” a noisy body of work that featured oddball trap blasts. It earned her two Grammy nominations — a career first — for alternative music album and alternative music performance. Those were for the song “Bye Bye,” with its eerie, dissonant beat originally written for rapper Playboi Carti. For “Play Me,” Gordon reimagined the track for the closer, “Bye Bye 25!” She says it was the result of her thinking about the rap world, where revisiting and remixing is commonplace.

“I came up with the idea of using these words that Trump had sort of ‘banned’ in his mind,” she says of the new song's lyrics. (An example: “Injustice / Opportunity / Dietary guidelines / Housing for the future.” President Donald Trump’s administration associates the terms with diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives, which it has vowed to root out across the government.) For Gordon, because it became “more conceptual … the remake doesn’t seem as anxiety-provoking as the original.”

There is a connective spirit between “The Collective” and “Play Me” — a shared confrontation, propulsive production and songs that possess a keen ability to process and reflect the world around Gordon. “It does feel kind of like an evolution,” she says of this album next to her last. “It’s sort of a more focused record, and immediate.” The songs are shorter and attentive.

Or, to put it more simply: “I like beats and that inspires me more than melodies,” she says. “Beats and space.”

That palette drives “Play Me,” a foundation in which staccato lyricism transforms and offers astute criticism. Consider the title track, which challenges passive listening and the devaluation of music in the age of streaming. She names Spotify playlist titles, imagined genres defined by mood rather than music. “Rich popular girl / Villain mode” she speak-sings, “Jazz and background / Chillin' after work.”

“It's just representative of, you know, this era we're in, this culture of convenience,” she says. “Music always represented a certain amount of freedom to me, and it feels like that’s kind of been blanketed over.”

Sonically, it is a message delivered atop a '70s groove, placing it in conversation with an era unshackled from these digital technologies.

The title, too, “is playing off the sort of passive nature of listening to music,” she says, “But also it could be seen as defiant. Like, I dare you to play me.”

There's also the blown-out “Subcon,” which examines the world's growing billionaire class and their fascination with space colonialization in a period of economic insecurity. In the song, Gordon's lyrical abstractions highlight the absurdity, taking aim at technocrats.

“I find reality inspirational, no matter how bad it is,” she says. Where some artists might veer away from the news, Gordon tackles truth. “I’m not sure what music is supposed to be. So, I’m just doing my version of it.”

In the end, she hopes listeners are “somewhat thrilled by” the album.

“'This is the music that I’ve wanted to hear,’ kind of feeling. Does that sound egotistical? I don’t know,” she laughs. If it is, it is earned.

1. “Play Me”

2. “Girl with a Look”

3. “No Hands”

4. “Black Out”

5. “Dirty Tech”

6. “Not Today”

7. “Busy Bee”

8. “Square Jaw”

9. “Subcon”

10. “Post Empire”

11. “Nail Bitter”

12. “Bye Bye 25!”

Kim Gordon poses for a portrait in New York on Tuesday, Dec. 9, 2025. (Photo by Taylor Jewell/Invision/AP)

Kim Gordon poses for a portrait in New York on Tuesday, Dec. 9, 2025. (Photo by Taylor Jewell/Invision/AP)

Kim Gordon poses for a portrait on Tuesday, Dec. 9, 2025, in New York (Photo by Taylor Jewell/Invision/AP)