For the second time this month at a prestigious tennis tournament, Valentin Vacherot came from a set down to beat his cousin Arthur Rinderknech.
In the first encounter between the pair on 12 October in the final at the Shanghai Masters, Monaco-based Vacherot won 4-6, 6-3, 6-3 to cap a tournament in which he ousted the former world number one Novak Djokovic
On Wednesday, Vacherot won 6-7, 6-4, 6-3 to move into the last-16 at the Paris Masters.
"He's playing incredibly well," said Rinderknech. "Just look at the results and the players he's been beating.
"We played a great match," added the 30-year-old Frenchman. "I fought hard from start to finish, giving it everything I had. It just didn't go my way. I'm a confident player, but he's extremely confident and extremely successful. It's all to his credit."
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Vacherot's triumph in Shanghai left him bathed in the kudos of becoming the lowest-ranked winner of a Masters 1000 event, which are considered as the most coveted crowns on the circuit after the four Grand Slam tournaments in Melbourne, Paris, London and New York.
Vacherot also zoomed from 204 in the lists to 40 with the 1,000 points harvested from the tournament.
On Thursday he will next play the unseeded Briton Cameron Norrie who on Tuesday night eliminated the top seed Carlos Alcaraz.
Rinderknech's fellow Frenchman, Alexandre Muller, also exited the tournament which is taking place at the Paris La Defense Arena.
He went down to Felix Auger Aliassime after a three-hour slugfest.
The 25-year-old Canadian won 5-7, 7-6, 7-6 to set up a third round clash with the German Daniel Altmaier who saw off the eighth seed Casper Ruud.
Third seed and defending champion Alexander Zverev shrugged off a slow start against the unseeded Argentine Camilo Ugo Carabelli to progress 6-7, 6-1, 7-5.
