Tsonga aims for Paris title

Updated on: 11 November,2009 07:49 AM IST |
AFP |

Paris Masters' defending champ Tsonga keen to get ahead of Verdasco in the championship race points

Paris Masters' defending champ Tsonga keen to get ahead of Verdasco in the championship race points

French defending champion Jo-Wilfried Tsonga remained in the hunt for a place at the November 22-29 ATP World Tour finals in London with a 6-1, 7-5 win over Spain's Albert Montanes in the Paris Masters here yesterday.

"I have to win the tournament to qualify, as long as Verdasco (Fernando) doesn't make the final," said Tsonga, the eighth seed. "If I get to the final and Verdasco is there, I'll try to win it anyway," he added.

Tsonga is one of three players, alongside Robin Soderling and Fernando Gonzalez, who still have a chance of pipping Nikolay Davydenko and Verdasco in the race to London but all three need to at least reach the Paris final to do so.

Earlier, Russian Davydenko and Spain's Verdasco tightened their grips on the remaining two places by reaching the third round of the Paris Masters.

Sixth seed Davydenko cruised past Germany's Benjamin Becker 6-2, 6-1 while seventh seed Verdasco was made to dig deep against Italian Andreas Seppi before eventually prevailing 6-7 (3/7), 6-4, 6-4.

Six of the world's top players have already secured their places and Davydenko and Verdasco, who currently occupy the last two qualifying spots available, are the hot favourites to join them.

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