Russia’s Nikolay Davydenko eased into the third round at the Paris Masters by beating Germany’s Benjamin Becker yesterday, coming a step closer to securing an ATP World Tour Finals place in the process.
The sixth seed prevailed 6-2, 6-1 to set up a meeting with either Croatia’s Ivo Karlovic or ninth seed Robin Soderling of Sweden, who is one of Davydenko’s rivals for a spot in the year-ending tournament in London.
With six of the world’s top players already qualified, Davydenko has a firm grip on the seventh qualifying berth and can make sure of his place by reaching the semi-finals.
Spain’s Fernando Verdasco occupies the eighth and final qualifying spot and he had a chance to eliminate Czech Radek Stepanek and Croatia’s Marin Cilic from the race to London if he beat Italy’s Andreas Seppi later yesterday.
Davydenko broke Becker’s serve in the German’s second service game with a scuttling forehand winner and then saw off four break points in the next game to open up a 3-1 lead, before breaking again to take control of the set.
Another early break gave him a 2-0 lead in the second set and he raced away as he had in the first to wrap up a simple victory in one hour and 18 minutes.
Former world No. 1 Marat Safin, in his final tournament before retiring, squeezed past French qualifier Thierry Ascione 6-4, 4-6, 7-6 in their Paris Masters first-round match on Monday.
The gifted but erratic Russian, who has been hampered by injuries in recent years and has dropped out of the top 50, was made to work hard against a player ranked 168th in the world.
The 29-year-old Safin, who has lifted the Paris Masters trophy three times but is without a tournament win since the 2005 Australian Open, saved three match points with aces at 5-4 down in the final set.
He eventually went on to take the tiebreak 7-3 with a forehand volley on the first match point to seal victory after 1 hour, 52 minutes of relatively dull tennis.
“The tennis I’m playing at the moment is not the best of my career,” Safin told reporters. “I always came here to win but this time, frankly, I don’t think I can do that. I’ll just try to finish on a high note and say goodbye to everybody.”
One of the world’s most spectacular players when on song, Safin faced a tough task in the second round against US Open champion Juan Martin del Potro.
“The way I’m playing right now I don’t think I stand a chance, but I’ll fight,” Safin said.
Dressed in black, Safin broke in the fifth game before winning the first set in 29 minutes.
The pair traded breaks early in the second before the Russian dropped his serve in the 10th game, losing the set by hitting a forehand long.
Both men looked equally clumsy in the deciding set until the unseeded Safin stepped up a gear in the closing stages.
Earlier, former champion Tomas Berdych recorded a 6-3, 7-6 victory over another French qualifier, Vincent Millot.
Czech Berdych, who won the indoor event in 2005, struggled at times against an opponent ranked outside the top 200.
The world No. 20 was scheduled to next play Spaniard Tommy Robredo, seeded 14th.
All the world top 10 players bar Andy Roddick are competing in Paris, where the last two places for the Nov. 22 to Nov. 29 World Tour Finals in London are up for grabs.
■AGASSI ‘STUPID’
REUTERS, PARIS
Marat Safin has come up with an instant remedy to help Andre Agassi clear his conscience after his admission that he lied about using drugs — hand back the millions of dollars he made in prize money.
RSS