Borges Beats Buse 6-0, 6-2 to Make Paris History as Lucky Loser

Nuno Borges lost in qualifying for the Paris Masters. On Thursday he made tournament history. The Portuguese beat Peru's Ignacio Buse 6-0, 6-2 in the round of 16 to become the first lucky loser ever to reach the quarter-finals of the Paris Masters 1000, Tennis Majors reported.

Borges, 29, needed one hour and 10 minutes on Court 1 at La Defense Arena, according to Flashscore's live report. He won the first eight games of the match. Buse, who had upset fourth seed Daniil Medvedev in the previous round, hit 21 unforced errors against eight winners and looked to be struggling with an injury, Flashscore reported.

A week that turned around

Borges had beaten Adrian Mannarino of France 4-6, 6-1, 7-5 in the first round of qualifying, then lost to Alex Molcan 7-6 (5), 6-2. A place in the main draw opened up and he took it as a lucky loser. He beat Moise Kouame of France 6-3, 6-1 in the first round, then beat Karen Khachanov 6-3, 6-4 to reach the last 16.

Thursday's win ended a long run of near misses. Borges had lost all six of his previous matches in the last 16 at Masters 1000 level. He is now into the 13th quarter-final of his ATP Tour career, and the biggest of them. He is also the third Portuguese man to reach a Masters 1000 quarter-final, after Frederico Gil at Monte Carlo in 2011 and Joao Sousa in Madrid in 2016, Tennis Majors reported.

Revenge for the Davis Cup loss

Buse had won the pair's only previous meeting, beating Borges 3-6, 6-3, 6-2 on clay in the Davis Cup in September 2025. The 22-year-old Peruvian arrived in the last 16 off the biggest win of his career, a 6-4, 6-4 defeat of Medvedev on Wednesday. Against Borges he never got going. The first set lasted only as long as it took Borges to hold serve three times and break three times.

Borges knows what a run like this can become. His only ATP Tour title came at Bastad in 2024, where he beat Rafael Nadal 6-3, 6-2 in the final.

An open draw in Paris

Borges was not the only surprise name in the last eight. Frenchman Luca Van Assche beat Lorenzo Musetti 7-5, 3-6, 6-4 to reach his first Masters 1000 quarter-final on home court. Qualifier Rinky Hijikata, who beat Novak Djokovic in the second round, beat Tomas Martin Etcheverry 2-6, 6-3, 7-5. Carlos Alcaraz advanced without playing after Matteo Berrettini withdrew with an arm injury. Ben Shelton beat Arthur Rinderknech 3-6, 6-4, 7-6 (5), and Tommy Paul beat Quentin Halys 7-6 (3), 6-4.

The quarter-finals are played on Friday at La Defense Arena. Borges, a player who was out of the tournament on Sunday, is one win from the semi-finals.