World No. 2 prevails in second-round clash in Paris
Andy Murray came through a stern opening test from Fernando Verdasco on Wednesday at the BNP Paribas Masters in Paris, weathering some inspired play from the Spaniard to advance, 6-3, 6-7(5), 7-5.
“It wasn’t the best match from my side. I got through it. I will play better tomorrow,” Murray said. “I didn’t necessarily feel comfortable out there, but I feel like the way the two of us finished the match, I was stronger at the end in the last game when I had my chance.”
With the win, Murray remains in contention to unseat Novak Djokovic as World No. 1. He will need to either win in Paris and have Djokovic lose before the final, or finish runner-up and have the Serbian lose before the semi-finals. Djokovic won his second-round match earlier in the day over Gilles Muller.
Next up for the Brit is No. 13 seed and local favourite Lucas Pouille, who prevailed on Wednesday over Feliciano Lopez. Murray leads their FedEx ATP Head2Head series 2-0 and has dropped just seven games against the Frenchman, including a convincing win last month at the Shanghai Rolex Masters.
“He’s a big hitter. He takes chances,” said Murray of Pouille. “He’s quite similar to Fernando, actually, apart from being a righty. Both of them like to go for big first serves and take chances from the back of the court.”
A single break of serve was all Murray needed to take the opening set. Verdasco raced to a 4-1 lead in the second set, but couldn’t serve it out at 5-3 and Murray eventually forced a tie-break. Verdasco took a commanding 6/2 lead and made good on his fourth set point chance to bring the match to a deciding set.
Little separated the two players until the final stages of the third set. Murray saved two critical break point chances at 5-5 and then promptly broke Verdasco in the next game to prevail in two hours and 28 minutes.
Murray now has seven consecutive wins over Verdasco and improves his FedEx ATP Head2Head rivalry over the Spaniard to 12-1. His lone loss to Verdasco came at the 2009 Australian Open.
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BNP Paribas Masters – Paris, France
Stan Wawrinka was the special guest on the TMC TV show “Quotidien”, speaking about everything from his friendship with Roger Federer to his famous Roland Garros fashion. The Swiss star also did the weather!
Richard Gasquet participated in the draw ceremony for the tournament, live on Canal+.
Lucas Pouille made an appearance on the Canal+ show “Le Grand Journal” and Bein Sports’ live show.
Joao Sousa answered his favourite fan questions, exclusively on MyATP. Watch
Nicolas Mahut, Pierre-Hugues Herbert, Bob Bryan, Mike Bryan, David Ferrer, Fernando Verdasco, Roberto Bautista Agut and John Isner met fans at a photo session.
Milos Raonic visited with sponsors at the Sponsors Welcome Party.
One more London berth up for grabs
Aisam-Ul-Haq Qureshi’s decision to team up with Grigor Dimitrov at the BNP Paribas Masters payed immediate dividends. The new partnership completed a 6-4, 3-6, 10-6 upset of No. 2 seeds Jamie Murray and Bruno Soares in the second round on Wednesday.
Dimitrov/Qureshi served well against Murray/Soares, who are already assured of a place at the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals. The new pairing won 89 per cent of first-serve points and only faced one break point in the win. They are into the quarter-finals and await Marcelo Melo and Vasek Pospisil, or Philipp Kohlschreiber and Dominic Thiem.
No. 3 seeds Bob Bryan and Mike Bryan avoided an upset, winning 6-4, 6-4 against French wild cards Quentin Halys and Adrian Mannarino. The Americans did not face a break point and closed out the win in only 50 minutes. Their quarter-final opponents will be Henri Kontinen and John Peers, who downed No. 7 seeds Raven Klaasen and Rajeev Ram 6-4, 7-6(4).
Feliciano Lopez and Marc Lopez topped Frenchmen Julien Benneteau and Edouard Roger-Vasselin 6-3, 6-4 in a meeting of former Roland Garros doubles champions. Benneteau/Roger-Vasselin won the crown in 2014, while Lopez/Lopez claimed it this year.
There is only one of eight doubles berths remaining at the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals. Treat Huey and Max Mirnyi lost their opening match to Kontinen/Peers, but will qualify for London unless No. 4 seeds Jean-Julien Rojer and Horia Tecau reach the semi-finals. Rojer/Tecau, the reigning London champions, will open on Thursday against Nicholas Monroe and Jack Sock.
8 Classic Matches. 1 Golden Moment. You Pick The Winner.
Re-live eight Classic Moments from the BNP Paribas Masters, from Tim Henman’s spectacular week in 2003 to Rafael Nadal’s comeback win in 2015, and help crown the Golden Moment from this ATP World Tour Masters 1000 tournament.
Watch & Vote
After watching the clips, vote for your favourite before the poll closes at 8pm ET Friday, 4 November. These are the eight Classic Moments:
Henman Caps Spectacular Week (2003)
Tsonga Delights Locals (2008)
Monfils Edges Federer (2010)
Soderling’s Dream Week (2010)
Berdych Halts Red-Hot Murray (2011)
Querrey Overcomes Djokovic (2012)
Ferrer Stops Janowicz (2012)
Nadal Saves Match Point (2015)
Britain’s Andy Murray edged out Spain’s Fernando Verdasco in the Paris Masters second round as he aims for the world number one ranking.
Murray, 29, who could overtake Novak Djokovic with a good run this week, won 6-3 6-7 (5-7) 7-5 in two hours and 29 minutes despite a patchy display.
Earlier, Djokovic beat Luxembourg’s Gilles Muller 6-3 6-4.
The Serb, 29, will retain his number one ranking – held for 122 weeks – if he reaches the final.
However, failure to do so would allow Murray to overtake him if the Scot can win the title, or if Murray reaches the final and Djokovic exits before the semis.
Murray took the first set against world number 46 Verdasco, after breaking to go 4-2 ahead, but lost a second-set tie-break after both players twice had their serves broken.
| Paris Masters Thursday schedule (Court Central – starting at 10:00 GMT) |
|---|
| Marin Cilic (Cro) [9] v David Goffin (Bel) [8] |
| Richard Gasquet (Fra) [12] v Jack Sock (US) |
| Novak Djokovic (Srb) [1] v Grigor Dimitrov (Bul) [14] |
| Lucas Pouille (Fra) [13] v Andy Murray (GB) [2] |
In a tense decider, Murray struggled to dominate before breaking to love to clinch a place in the third round.
Murray faces Frenchman Lucas Pouille on Thursday, while Djokovic plays Bulgarian Grigor Dimitrov.
Victory over Verdasco means Murray, who secured his seventh title of the year in Vienna on Sunday, has won 53 of his past 57 matches.
“It was a tough match. Verdasco was going for his shots and serving huge,” said Murray.
“When he was behind in games and even when I was getting the return back, he was dictating the points on his forehand and backhand. He hit a few lines with his backhand.
“I just had to fight at the end.”
Murray, who won his third title in as many weeks with victory in Vienna, is bidding to top the rankings for the first time.
But four-time Paris champion Djokovic looked composed as he returned to action after losing in the Shanghai semi-finals two weeks ago.
He took the first set after breaking Muller in the sixth game and another break to go 5-4 up in the second proved crucial as the top seed won in an hour and 20 minutes.
“It was great to start off the way I did today,” said 12-time Grand Slam champion Djokovic.
He completed the career Grand Slam with a first French Open title in June, although his form has dipped since then.
Djokovic won in Toronto but lost early at Wimbledon and the Olympics, and was beaten in the US Open final by Stan Wawrinka.
Murray has closed the gap dramatically in terms of points over the past four months to trail by only 415, with 1,000 on offer to the winner in Paris.
Earlier on Wednesday, Japan’s Kei Nishikori claimed his 300th career win, a 6-2 7-5 victory against Serb Viktor Troicki.
Blockbuster third round set in Paris
Ninth seed Marin Cilic set up a key clash with David Goffin in the Emirates ATP Race To London as he overcame fellow Croatian Ivo Karlovic 7-6(7), 6-2 on Wednesday in the second round of the BNP Paribas Masters in Paris.
“I’m really excited and satisfied with my form, especially these past few months,” said Cilic. “I’ve been trying for a long time to find that consistency at the big tournaments. That was a goal of mine at the beginning of the season, so I’m just hoping to continue with good tennis here and make it to London.”
Cilic will now play eighth seed Goffin, who kept alive his outside chance of playing at The O2 as he defeated Nicolas Mahut 7-6(5), 6-3. Goffin must beat Cilic and win the title at the AccorHotels Arena this week to clinch one of the two remaining spots in the elite eight-player field at the season finale.
“David has been playing very well this season. We just played in Tokyo and it was a tough match,” said Cilic. “It’s a battle now between me, him, Berdych and Tsonga. I’m just hoping to continue with my good tennis and find a good way to play him this time.”
With Rafael Nadal out for the rest of the season, ninth-placed Cilic is currently in line to qualify for the eight-man season finale at The O2, but must stay ahead of Tomas Berdych and Goffin this week at the ATP World Tour Masters 1000 tournament in Paris.
Cilic put himself in a strong position to qualify for the year-end championships for a second time after winning his second ATP World Tour title of the season last week in Basel, where he defeated Kei Nishikori in the final. The Croat first qualified at The O2 in 2014, the same year that he won his lone Grand Slam title at the US Open.
Watch Goffin Feature
Goffin leads his FedEx ATP Head2Head rivalry with Cilic 3-0, recording wins this year in Tokyo, Indian Wells and a Belgium-Croatia Davis Cup tie in March. But the indoor surface in Paris suits the big-serving Cilic, who will likely be able to earn plenty of short points off that shot. This will be the earliest round that they’ve played each other in an ATP World Tour event.
Goffin’s best result to date at an ATP World Tour Masters 1000 tournament is reaching back-to-back semi-finals earlier this year in Indian Wells and Miami.
“I’m just focused on what I have to do and I’ll play match by match,” said Goffin. “I can feel that it’s the end of the season and it’s never easy when you feel a little bit tired. But it’s a big tournament and my goal is to finish the season without any regrets. I’m just going to give everything until the end.”