Dodig/Polasek Keep London Dream Alive With Paris Victory

Eighth seeds Ivan Dodig/Filip Polasek saved a set point en route to their 7-6(2), 7-6(4) first-round victory over Sander Gille/Joran Vliegen on Tuesday at the Rolex Paris Masters, keeping them in contention to clinch the last remaining team berth at the season-ending Nitto ATP Finals.

Dodig/Polasek erased the set point at 5-6 in the second set before prevailing in one hour and 40 minutes. The pair are ninth in the ATP Race to London and will appear at The O2 from 10-17 November if they can reach the final in Paris.

Divij Sharan/Artem Sitak arrived in the draw as alternates, but made the most of their chance by defeating fourth seeds Mate Pavic/Bruno Soares 6-7(5), 6-4, 10-3. They’ll face Roland Garros finalists Jeremy Chardy/Fabrice Martin in the next round.

Karen Khachanov/Andrey Rublev outlasted Stefanos Tsitsipas/Aisam-Ul-Haq Qureshi 3-6, 6-4, 10-5 and Marin Cilic/Pablo Cuevas took out Alex de Minaur/Taylor Fritz 7-6(3), 6-3. Seventh seeds Pierre-Hugues Herbert/Nicolas Mahut advanced via walkover against Adrian Mannarino/Gilles Simon when Simon withdrew due to a leg injury.