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.

With the win, Montanes improved 24-20 on the season and will next face defending champ Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in second round action.

Frenchman Paul-Henri Mathieu endured a disappointing end to his year, withdrawing in the second set against Serbian Viktor Troicki, 7-6 (4), 3-0. 

Mathieu, who sustained a right calf injury in the second set, fell to 28-29 on season, 4-7 at the Bercy event. Mathieu's poor performance on home soil has resulted in five opening-round defeats.

Colombian Aljandro Falla squandered three match points in the second set tiebreak and is now currently tied at one set all with American John Isner.

Isner, who saved three match points with blistering second serves, will be attempting to win his 27th match of the year while looking to crack the top 30 for the first time in his career. Isner currently stands at the No. 35 position.

Action that is still to come on Monday in Paris will include:

Sebastien Grosjean, playing in what may very well be the final tournament of his career, against recent Lyon, France winner Ivan Ljubicic.

Ljubicic, who made the finals of Bercy in 2005 (l. Berdych), has rounded into form quite nicely in the past month on Tour, winning his sixth career title in Lyon, while making the quarterfinals in both Beijing, and Shanghai, China.

Grosjean, who has seen limited court action this year due to right shoulder surgery which he underwent at the end of 2008, currently resides at the No. 705 spot on the computer.

The Frenchman, once ranked as high as No. 4 in the world (Nov. 2002), trails Ljubicic 3-2 in the pair's head-to-head meetings.

The final match of the day will feature the potential last match of former world No. 1 Marat Safin. 

Safin, who is retiring at the end of this week, faces French qualifier Theirry Ascione in the night match.

Safin's record at the Paris Bercy speaks for itself, winning three titles, reaching the finals in 1999 and a quarterfinal finish in 2006.

The Russian rocket leads Asicone 1-0 in head-to-head meetings, defeating the Frenchman at the 2004 Estoril, Portugal event.

With the tournament beginning on Sunday, two matches—including James Blake defeating Fabrice Santoro, 6-4, 6-4, and Benjamin Becker ousting Michael Llodra, 3-6, 6-2, 6-3—were recorded.

Santoro, who is all but done his 20 years of professional tennis, said that he may participate in the Australian Open at the beginning of next year, becoming the only player in the history of the sport to play in four different decades.

"Before coming onto the court, I was in the locker room with two close friends and my dad," Santoro said. "We were joking. We made a few photos. We tried to immortalize the moment."

Blake, who will next face recent Valencia Open 500 winner Andy Murray in the second round, paid tribute to Santoro's longevity on Tour.

"He's a great competitor, such a classy guy, someone I've had a lot of tough matches with," Blake said. "It's tough when you get to serve out the match and the crowd is really behind him. Luckily I came through with a couple of big serves that helped kind of take the racquet out of his hand and give me the chance to close it out.

"He's had a great career. It's unbelievable how much success he's had in singles and doubles and how well liked he is by his competitors, which I think says a lot about a person, when they do retire, how respected they are by the rest of the tour."

Santoro will now contemplate whether or not he wants to become a Touring coach in the future.

Please check back on Tuesday for continuing daily coverage from the BNP Paribas Masters in France.

Quotes courtesy of theatpworldtour.com.