Leylah Fernandez breezes to win over British opponent to begin Hong Kong title defence

Defending champion Leylah Fernandez advanced to the second round of the Hong Kong Open tennis tournament with a 6-2, 6-2 win over Britain's Heather Watson on Tuesday.

Fernandez, the third seed from Laval, Que., punished her opponent's mistakes by converting five of her seven break-point chances.

On serve, Fernandez had four aces and defended four of the five break points she faced.

Fernandez improved to 1-3 against Watson in their first meeting since the 2020 Acapulco final.

Fernandez will next face Australia's Kimberly Birrell in the second round of the WTA 250 tournament.

In other tennis news, top-seeded Jannik Sinner has pulled out of the Paris Masters, citing a virus.

The Italian player, who is guaranteed to finish the year as No. 1, said in a message relayed by organizers he is not able to play this week.

"I came very early here to prepare then I fell sick, I'm having a virus at the moment, which is going to pass the next two to three days, so body-wise I'm not ready to compete," Sinner said.

Tour-leading 7 titles this season

Sinner is the second high-profile player to pull out of the final Masters 1000 event of the year following seven-time champion Novak Djokovic.

Sinner earlier this month beat Djokovic in straight sets to win the Shanghai Masters, giving the Italian his tour-leading seventh title of the season. Sinner became the first man to win more than six titles in a season since Andy Murray won nine in 2016.

The victory for Sinner came after he lost the final of the China Open in Beijing to Carlos Alcaraz and amid an ongoing doping case.

Organizers did not give a reason last week for Djokovic's withdrawal.

The 37-year-old has won a record seven titles at the Paris indoor tournament. His decision not to play could jeopardize his chances to qualify for the year-end ATP Finals featuring the top eight players in the race.

The 24-time Grand Slam champion currently holds the sixth spot in the race. Alexander Zverev, Daniil Medvedev, Taylor Fritz, Alcaraz and Sinner have already secured their spot at the season's final event from Nov. 10-17.

Alcaraz advances to 3rd round in Paris

Carlos Alcaraz overcame some rusty moments on his serve to beat Nicolas Jarry 7-5, 6-1 and reach the third round of the Paris Masters.

The second-seeded Spaniard was troubled by Jarry's strong forehand at times. The Chilean broke his serve in the ninth game and held for 5-5. But Jarry double-faulted in his next service game to lose the first set.

Alcaraz saved a break point in the third game with an ace and broke for a 4-1 lead with a crisp forehand winner.

Serving for the match, Alcaraz saved another break point with an ace to make it deuce and won the next two points, clinching victory when the erratic Jarry's two-handed backhand clipped the net and went out.

Alcaraz, the four-time Grand Slam champion, is looking for his fifth title of the year and next plays either 15th-seeded Ugo Humbert or American qualifier Marcos Giron.

Rublev loses temper and match

Sixth-seeded Andrey Rublev lost two tiebreakers and his temper as his hopes of qualifying for the ATP Finals took a hit at the Paris Masters.

Facing Francisco Cerundolo in the second round at the indoor tournament, Rublev lost 7-6 (6), 7-6 (5) after a match that lasted more than two hours. Rublev was so frustrated at one point in the second set that he smashed his racket against his left knee at least seven times in succession. Video footage showed the outburst left his knee bleeding.

The Russian player held the eighth and final qualifying place in the race for the season-ending ATP Finals and could be overtaken by rivals this week.

The ATP said Taylor Fritz became the fifth player to qualify on Tuesday, making it to the season-ending tournament for the second time in the past three years.

Earlier Tuesday, big-serving Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard of France hit 28 aces on his way to defeating Frances Tiafoe 6-7 (5), 7-6 (4), 6-3.

Fresh from winning the title in Basel, Mpetshi Perricard also had 13 double-faults but never dropped his serve against the 14th-seeded American player.

Mpetshi Perricard converted his sole break point to win his first match at a Masters 1000 tournament.

The Frenchman, who started the year ranked 200th, rose to a career-high ranking of No. 31 on Monday.

According to ATP statistics, Mpetshi Perricard has served 512 aces in just 27 matches this season. He will play Karen Khachanov or Christopher O'Connell in the second round.