Tsonga Bounced in Paris and From ATP World Tour Finals Contention

Jo-Wilfried Tsonga saw his bid to qualify for the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals come to an end on Tuesday night at the BNP Paribas Masters in Paris, falling to Kei Nishikori, 6-1, 6-7(4), 6-7(7). Nishikori can continue to play the role of spoiler, as he faces another Barclays ATP World Tour Finals contender, Richard Gasquet, on Thursday.

Gasquet advanced by defeating the ninth-seeded Fernando Verdasco 7-5, 6-7(6), 6-3 in a near three-hour contest. Gasquet moved within three match wins of 350 career victories.

Mikhail Youzhny was forced to retire with a right elbow injury in the early stages of the third set against Kevin Anderson of South Africa. Anderson was leading Youzhny 4-6, 7-6(0), 2-1 after one hour and 51 minutes of play, and will next play Roger Federer.

Defending Paris champion David Ferrer battled past Lukas Rosol 6-0, 2-6, 6-3, breaking serve six times as he improved to a 3-0 lead in their FedEx ATP Head2Head rivalry.

Juan Martin del Potro also advanced to reach the third round, defeating Marin Cilic 6-4, 7-6(3), and is one win away from his 50th victory of the season.

"I'm confident with my game, and in the important moments I played solid," said del Potro. "I was just trying to find a way to hit my forehand, and I think I did a good job today.

Del Potro is attempting to win his first ATP World Tour Masters 1000 crown after three runner-up efforts. For a place in the quarterfinals, he will face Grigor Dimitrov, who defeated the 16th seeded Fabio Fognini 6-3, 5-7, 6-2.

American John Isner will face the second-seeded Novak Djokovic in round three after Isner defeated Michal Przysiezny 7-6(3), 4-6, 6-3. Isner defeated Djokovic in their last meeting in the Cincinnati quarterfinals in August.

Stanislas Wawrinka defeated Feliciano Lopez 6-3, 3-6, 6-3 in the second round of the BNP Paribas Masters and kept alive his chances to qualify for the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals. Wawrinka’s victory eliminated Nicolas Almagro from a spot in London at the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals.