Djokovic marches into third round

‘...you know, just try to get one win every match, and just play one match at a time’

World number one Novak Djokovic clinched his place in the last 16 of the Paris Masters yesterday with a 6-3, 6-4 victory over Luxembourg’s Gilles Muller.
A single service break in either set sent the record four-time champion through to a meeting with Bulgarian 14th seed Grigor Dimitrov.
Djokovic, 29, must reach the final in Paris to guarantee he extends his 122-week reign at the top of the rankings with Andy Murray rapidly closing in on the Serb.
Japan’s Kei Nishikori also cruised into the third round with a 6-2 7-5 win against Serbian Viktor Troicki as the race for places at the ATP Tour Finals gathered pace yesterday.
The fifth seed, one of six players to have already qualified for the season-ending finals in London, breezed through the first set and quickly broke in the second. A lapse in concentration by the Japanese, however, allowed world number 28 Troicki to break back but Nishikori broke again to end the contest in straight sets.
This is Nishikori’s 300th career win. “I think it’s a great number,” said Nishikori.
“I’m not sure if it’s good or not. I don’t know how good that is, but, you know, just try to get one win every match, and just play one match at a time.”
He will next face either local favourite Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, the 11th seed, or Albert Ramos-Vinolas of Spain.
Croatian Marin Cilic set up a third-round clash with Belgium’s David Goffin as both battle for one of two remaining spots for the November 13-20 ATP event at the 02.
Cilic, ninth in the Race to London, beat compatriot Ivo Karlovic 7-6(7) 6-2 while Goffin, who is 11th with an outside chance of qualifying, beat France’s Nicolas Mahut 7-6(5) 6-3.
Dominic Thiem’s chances of taking part in the London showdown, took a big blow when the Austrian, eighth in the Race, lost 6-2 6-4 to American Jack Sock in the second round in Paris.
Former world number one Rafa Nadal is seventh in the Race but has ended his season and will not play in the Tour finals.

Konta dominates to
guarantee top-10 spot
Britain’s Johanna Konta will finish the year inside the world top 10 for the first time after cruising to victory over Sam Stosur on day two of the WTA Elite Trophy in China yesterday.
The top seed, 25, defeated the former US Open winner 6-4, 6-2 in Zhuhai in her first time back on court since withdrawing from the Hong Kong Open with an abdominal injury last month.
“Against a player like Sam, who plays such a big ball and has such a big game, I really had to do my best to stay there for every single point and take my chances whenever they came,” Konta said after the decisive win in the $2.2mn round-robin tournament.
In the day’s other matches, world number 18 Timea Bacsinszky came back from a loss to China’s Zhang Shuai to dominate Hungary’s Timea Babos 6-4, 6-2. In the day’s last matchup, Czech Petra Kvitova defeated Roberta Vinci of Italy, 6-1, 6-2.

Garcia, Mladenovic return to lead France in Fed Cup final
 Top doubles team Caroline Garcia and Kristina Mladenovic will spearhead France’s challenge in the Fed Cup final against defending champions Czech Republic after making their return following a suspension. In September, the French tennis federation lifted a ban on the pair, who were sanctioned the previous month for criticising the organisation following a mix-up over their clothing in a first-round doubles loss at the Rio Olympics.
The French pair are second in the WTA rankings but were defeated in the semi-finals of the doubles tournament at last week’s WTA Finals in Singapore despite starting as top seeds.