Buse stuns Medvedev in Paris to make Peruvian tennis history

Ignacio Buse produced the biggest win of his career on Wednesday, beating fourth seed Daniil Medvedev 6-4, 6-4 in the round of 32 at the Rolex Paris Masters. The 22-year-old Peruvian needed around an hour and 40 minutes to beat the world No. 5 and become the first player from his country to reach the last 16 in Paris.

A first top-10 scalp, and a 23-year wait ended

Buse, ranked No. 33, controlled the opening set from the baseline and took it 6-4. In the second, Medvedev moved ahead 4-2 and looked set to force a decider, but the Peruvian reeled off the remaining games to close out the match in straight sets.

The numbers behind the win are significant for Peruvian tennis. According to Peruvian outlets Infobae and Gestión, it is Buse's first victory over a top-10 opponent and the first by a Peruvian over a top-10 player since Luis Horna beat Richard Gasquet in Rome in 2008. It is also Peru's first win over a top-five player since Horna stunned Roger Federer at Roland Garros in 2003.

The result adds to a breakthrough season. Buse has won two titles this year, in Hamburg and Winston-Salem, and according to Infobae the 75 ranking points from the run so far lift him to No. 32 in the live rankings. Gestión notes that his previous wins over top-30 opponents came against Flavio Cobolli, Nicolás Jarry, Tommy Paul and Jiří Lehečka.

Medvedev: "To make a winner is almost impossible"

For Medvedev, Paris remains a puzzle. The 2020 champion has now lost his opening match at the tournament five times in nine main-draw appearances, and he left no doubt about how uncomfortable he felt in the conditions at the Paris La Défense Arena.

"The ball doesn't go from the racket. It's fast but not fast... to make a winner is almost impossible," he told reporters, as quoted by Tennis Majors. "It's always, you need to get one match to get it going, and I didn't."

The Russian described how the slow reaction off the court disrupted even his net play: "Even sometimes I was at the net and I was kind of early because I was like, okay, I was waiting for the ball to come to me."

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The defeat has no impact on his end-of-season plans. Medvedev has already qualified for the ATP Finals in Turin after a season that has brought him four titles, in Brisbane, Dubai, Hangzhou and Almaty.

Borges stands between Buse and the quarter-finals

Medvedev was one of several big names to fall on a day of upsets in Paris. World No. 1 Alexander Zverev lost to Lorenzo Musetti, Novak Djokovic was beaten by qualifier Rinky Hijikata and Frances Tiafoe went out to Quentin Halys.

Buse now faces Portuguese lucky loser Nuno Borges, ranked No. 49, on Court 1 on Thursday. Borges reached the round of 16 by beating Karen Khachanov 6-3, 6-4. The winner moves into the quarter-finals in Paris.