PARIS, Nov 12 - Swede Robin Soderling kept alive his slim hopes of making the World Tour Finals in London by beating Russia’s Nikolay Davydenko 6-3 3-6 6-4 in the third round of the Paris Masters today.
World number seven Davydenko, seeded sixth in a tournament he won in 2006, would have made sure of entering the Nov 22-29 season’s finale featuring the world’s top eight players had he reached the quarter-finals.
French Open runner-up Soderling, the world number 10, needs to reach at least the final here to book a trip to London while Davydenko remains in contention but with his fate now out of his hands.
Soderling goes on to meet Serbia’s Novak Djokovic, the world number three, who reached the quarter-finals here for the first time with a comfortable 6-2 6-2 win over unseeded Frenchman Arnaud Clement.
Djokovic is one of six players to have already qualified for the World Tour Finals, with the last two tickets up for grabs in Paris.
Soderling broke Davydenko in the fourth game to take the first set but the Russian replied with an early break in the second set which he went on to claim with a backhand volley.
The final set was tight, both players holding serve until Davydenko gifted his opponent two match points with an unforced error and hit a backhand long on the first to bow out.
Djokovic, who had never gone past the third round at the Bercy hall, was always in control against former top 10 player Clement, 31 and now ranked a modest 93rd in the world.
The oldest player left in the draw, Clement, who had pleased the home fans by knocking out German Tommy Haas in the previous round, saved two match points before hitting a forehand into the net on the third. — Reuters
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