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Rafael Nadal explains how he will play at the BNP Paribas Masters with a great deal of confidence. Watch live tennis at http://www.tennistv.com/
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Eighth seed and 2012 champion David Ferrer required just one hour to beat Alexandr Dolgopolov 6-2, 6-2 on Tuesday for a place in the BNP Paribas Masters third round. Ferrer, who has already qualified for the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals, is now 53-12 on the season that includes five ATP World Tour titles. He will next face 12th seed Marin Cilic or Grigor Dimitrov.
Qualifier Edouard Roger-Vasselin closed Ivo Karlovic‘s season, ending the Croat’s hopes of breaking Goran Ivanisevic‘s record of 1,477 aces set in 1996. Roger-Vasselin won 4-6, 7-6(1), 7-6(5) in two hours and 13 minutes. Karlovic, who served for the match at 5-4 in the decider, struck 29 aces to finish 2015 with 1,447 aces. Roger-Vasselin now faces fifth seed and 2005 titlist Tomas Berdych.
When Roger-Vasselin was asked whether he knew Karlovic had lost his last 10 deciding set tie-breaks, the Frenchman admitted, “I didn’t know. It was better for me not to know that. I played the whole match in the same way, serve and volley on my first serve. I didn’t change anything in the way I played the tie-break.”
Novak Djokovic maintained an unbeaten record against Thomas Bellucci in the second round of the BNP Paribas Masters on Tuesday. Watch live tennis at http://www.tennistv.com/
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David Ferrer comes out a winner in an incredible rally against Alexandr Dolgopolov on Tuesday at the BNP Paribas Masters. Watch live tennis at http://www.tennistv.com/
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Benoit Paire produces an unplayable drop volley against Gilles Simon at the BNP Paribas Masters in Paris, 2015.
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Stan Wawrinka launches his bid on Tuesday to become the first man since Andre Agassi in 1999 to claim the Paris double – the Roland Garros and BNP Paribas Masters titles – in the same season. The Swiss, currently at No. 4 in the ATP Emirates Race To London, faces a difficult opener against Australian Bernard Tomic and will be looking to bounce back from an opening-round defeat to Ivo Karlovic in Basel last week. Tomic, at a career-high ranking of No. 18, has won the pair’s only prior FedEx ATP Head2Head showdown four years ago in a Davis Cup tie in Sydney and comes off a straight-sets victory over Fabio Fognini in the first round.
World No. 1 Novak Djokovic also headlines Day 2 action. The three-time champion returns to Paris with winning streaks of 17 matches and 22 sets, as well as a run of 13 consecutive finals since he fell in the Doha quarter-finals to begin his 2015 campaign. He opens against Brazilian lefty Thomaz Bellucci, who put out Russian Teymuraz Gabashvili in his opening match. Djokovic owns a 16-0 record against left-handers this season (76-30 overall) and is aiming to become the first player to win six ATP World Tour Masters 1000 titles in a season. He has never lost to Bellucci in four previous encounters.
The 2012 Paris champion David Ferrer takes on Alexandr Dolgopolov, who downed Jiri Vesely first up. He will carry a 7-2 record against the Ukrainian into the match. The No. 2 Spaniard has won five titles this season and despite missing Wimbledon and ATP Masters 1000 events at Montreal and Cincinnati with a right elbow injury, has bounced back strong winning his 25th title in Kuala Lumpur, reaching the final in Beijing before defeating Steve Johnson to win the Vienna title last week.
No. 14 seed Gilles Simon faces fellow Frenchman Benoit Paire. Simon is 10-1 against countrymen in 2015, but Paire is coming off a comeback from 6-2, 4-0 down against two-time finalist Gael Monfils. Paire has risen to No. 23 in the world from a year-end ranking of No. 118 in 2014 and has become the first player since Steve Darcis in 2007 to win a Futures, Challenger and ATP World Tour title in the same season. He won his first ATP World Tour title without dropping a set at Bastad in July. The pair has split their six meetings.
French qualifier Edouard Roger-Vasselin will look to level a 2-1 losing record against big-serving Karlovic in his first-round match. The 36-year-old Karlovic – the oldest player in the Top 20 since Jimmy Connors in 1990 – is looking for his 300th career victory against Roger-Vasselin and comes off an impressive first-round upset of Wawrinka in Basel last week.
World No. 25 Jack Sock and Serb Viktor Troicki will square off for the first time. The No. 2 American has reached two finals this season, winning the title in Houston and falling in Stockholm to Tomas Berdych. Troicki started his season winning the title in Sydney.
Spaniard Roberto Bautista Agut arrives in Paris in form after reaching back-to-back finals in Moscow (l. to Marin Cilic) and Valencia last week where he lost to Sousa after saving six match points in his semi-final win over Johnson. The No. 4 Spaniard begins against wildcard Pierre-Hugues Herbert.
In other first-round singles matches, Spaniard Fernando Verdasco will take on rising Croat Borna Coric for the first time, while Czech Lukas Rosol will aim to level a losing 2-1 record against another Spaniard Guilermo Garcia-Lopez. An exciting doubles lineup is also part of Tuesday’s schedule, with US Open champions Herbert and Nicolas Mahut, as well as Top-6 singles players Andy Murray, Tomas Berdych and Rafael Nadal all in action.