Borges had held all 25 of his service games in the main draw before Friday, and the opening set was unrelenting. The Portuguese loved to level at 4-4 and again at 6-6. Rood took the tiebreak 7-5, taking his third set point.
The match turned into a few points. In the second set, Roode faced his only two break points at 2-3 and saved both. He broke in the next game, converting his first and only break point of the match and served it to love at 5-4. Both players hit 10 aces, with Rood scoring a 68 and Borges a 65.
Rudd opened his week with a win over Argentina Juan Manuel Cerundolo6-3, 6-2, and Spain Rafael Jodar6-3, 6-4. He then beat Germany’s Jan-Lennard Struff 6-3, 6-3 in the last 16. Rudd is 1-6 against Alcaraz, with his only win coming 6-1, 7-5 in the round robin at the 2024 ATP Finals. Alcaraz won 6-1, 7-6 (2) in the last 16 at Indian Wells in March.
Borges, 29, lost 7-6 (5), 6-2 to Alex Molkan in the second round of qualifying before entering the main draw as a lucky loser. He won 6-3, 6-1 over Frenchman Moise Kouame and 6-3, 6-4 over Russian Karen Khachanov. A 6-0, 6-2 win over Peru’s Ignacio Busse made him the first lucky loser to reach the quarter-finals of the Rolex Paris Masters.
Rolex Paris Masters 2026 quarter-final results
Luca Van Aschen d. Rinki Hijikata (Q) 6-4, 6-7 (4), 7-5
Ben Shelton (3) d. Tommy Paul (12) 6-4, 4-6, 6-3
Casper Rood d. Nuno Borges (LL) 7-6 (5), 6-4
Carlos Alcaraz (2) d. Taylor Fritz (11) 6-7 (10), 7-5, 6-3