Nuno Borges of Portugal, a lucky loser after falling in qualifying, became the first player with that status to reach the quarter-finals in the history of the Paris Masters 1000 as he beat Peru’s Ignacio Buse 6-0, 6-2 in the last 16 on Thursday.

Borges had lost all six of his previous matches in the last 16 at Masters 1000 level. The 29-year-old reached the 13th quarter-final of his career on the ATP Tour, and the biggest. He also became the third Portuguese man to reach a Masters 1000 quarter-final, after Gil at Monte-Carlo in 2011 and Sousa in Madrid in 2016. The scoreline left little doubt about who controlled the match.

Buse had won their only previous meeting, 3-6, 6-3, 6-2 on clay in the Davis Cup in September 2025. On Thursday, the Portuguese reversed that result emphatically.

Borges had beaten Adrian Mannarino of France 4-6, 6-1, 7-5 in the first round of qualifying before losing to Alex Molcan 7-6 (5), 6-2. Given a place in the main draw as a lucky loser, he beat Moise Kouame of France 6-3, 6-1 in the first round. His only ATP Tour title came at Bastad in 2024, when he beat Rafael Nadal 6-3, 6-2 in the final.

Rolex Paris Masters 2026 third-round results

Luca Van Assche d. Lorenzo Musetti 7-5, 3-6, 6-4
Rinky Hijikata (Q) d. Tomas Martin Etcheverry 2-6, 6-3, 7-5
Ben Shelton (3) d. Arthur Rinderknech 3-6, 6-4, 7-6 (5)
Tommy Paul (12) d. Quentin Halys 7-6 (3), 6-4
Jan-Lennard Struff (SE) vs Casper Ruud
Nuno Borges (LL) d. Ignacio Buse 6-0, 6-2
Arthur Fils (6) vs Taylor Fritz (11)
Carlos Alcaraz (2) d. Matteo Berrettini w/o