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BNP Paribas Masters—Paris, France
Tomas Berdych, who won the BNP Paribas Masters in 2005 for his lone Masters 1000 title, defeated French qualifier Vincent Millot, 6-3, 7-4 (4), in first-round action Monday.
Berdych's year, which has consisted of winning his fifth career title in Munich (d. Youzhny), has produced a 36-24 record (including today's win) while retaining a top 20 ranking for the fourth straight season. (Berdych last ended the year ranked outside the top 20 in 2005, when he finished No. 24.)
Millot, who is currently ranked No. 247 in the world, squandered a 5-2 lead in the second set, allowing Berdych to brake back and use his potent serve to finish off the match in straight sets. Berdych struck an ace on his first match point, improving to 12-3 lifetime at the indoor French event.
Berdych will next face No. 14 seed Tommy Robredo in second round action. The top 16 seeds in the event received first round byes.
Elsewhere, Croatian Ivo Karlovic snapped a six-match losing streak, defeating Uruguayan Pablo Cuevas by a 7-6 (3), 6-4 score.
Karlovic, who struck 21 aces in his quick (1:16), straight-set victory, saved four break points in the first set while capturing the lone break of the match in the ninth game of the second set.
Taking chances on his return-of-serve throughout the first set tiebreak, Karlovic connected on two crucial down-the-line returns at 2-2 and 5-2, gaining a vital one set to love lead.
Karlovic, who improved to 23-22 on the season, has only won three matches all year which he has lost the first set. (A five-set comeback against James Blake in Davis Cup action, a three-set win against Jan Henrych at the Roma Masters 1000, and a three-set win against Julien Benneteau at the Madrid Masters 1000.)
Cuevas, who ended his season with a 19-15 record, recorded two Tour-level quarterfinal finishes this year (Moscow and Bucharest), while advancing to two Tour-level semifinals this season (Hamburg and Vinadel Mar).
The 23-year-old Argentine may compete in a few Challenger-level events before the end of the season—results which will not effect his Tour win-loss record but may increase his ranking.
With the win, Karlovic faces No. 9 seed Robin Soderling in second-round action. The blockbuster second-round affair will pit the powerful duo against each other for the third time in their career meetings. Karlovic leads the pair's head-to-head 2-1, winning the last encounter at the 2008 Madrid Masters. All of the pair's matches have taken place on hard courts.
Soderling, who joins a list of seven remaining candidates with a mathematical chance of qualifying for the Barclays ATP World Tour finals in London, currently stands in the No. 9 position, 380 points behind No. 8 Fernando Verdasco.
Soderling needs to advance to the finals of the event in order to have a shot at qualifying for the Tour finale in London.
Soderling, who is returning from a wrist elbow injury, will put his fitness and match toughness to the test this week.
Other candidates for the remaining two positions in the year end Tour finals include, Verdasco, Nikolay Davydenko, Fernando Gonzalez, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, Radek Stepanek, and Marin Cilic.
Elsewhere, other first round results at the Paris (Bercy) indoor event included:
Italian Andreas Seppi ousting Philipp Kohlschreiber, 6-3, 6-.3. Seppi will next face No. 7 seed Fernando Verdasco in round two. Verdasco can eliminate both Stepanek and Cilic from London contention if he defeats Seppi on Wednesday.
Lukasz Kubot, who recently defeated Andy Roddick in Japan while making his maiden Tour-level final in Belgrade earlier this season, defeated the competent challenge of Andreas Beck, 6-4, 3-6, 6-4. Kubot, who in previous seasons had participated predominately in doubles competition, has tried his luck in the singles arena this year, seeing his ranking rise from No. 209 at the beginning of the year to its current position of No. 111.
Kubot is competing in France as a qualifier this week and endured a similar qualification path to record his impressive results in Japan and Belgrade. Kubot will next face No. 12 seed Marin Cilic in second round action.
Spaniard Albert Montanes picked up his seventh hard court win of the season, dismissing the 6'6" challenge of Victor Hanescu, 3-6, 6-3, 7-6 (3).
Montanes, who was struggling to find the rhythm on his serve throughout the 2:07 encounter, fought diligently to overcome the loss of the first set, completely controlling the third-set tiebreak with his one-handed backhand.
Hanescu, who lost his ninth match out of his last 11 on Tour, has struggled recently in a year which brought him a career high ranking of No. 26, which he achieved in June.
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