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Paris - Spain's Fernando Verdasco came from a set down to beat French veteran Arnaud Clement at the Paris Masters on Tuesday and keep alive his hopes of qualifying for the ATP finals.
The Spaniard, who arrived in Paris having won just one match since the U.S. Open in September, struggled to keep up with 32-year-old Clement in the early stages before rallying to win the last 10 games and seal a 6-3 3-6 6-0 victory.
Verdasco needs to reach the semi-finals to book a place in London and next faces French 12th seed Gael Monfils or German qualifier Benjamin Becker who meet later.
"I'm really not thinking about London right now as there are still two matches that each could be very difficult," the sixth seed said.
One player who will not be in London is Russia's world number 10 Mikhail Youzhny who retired in his second-round match against Latvian Ernests Gulbis.
Speaking before a mouth-watering clash with Frenchman Richard Gasquet, Roger Federer said Paris was always packed with pressure for players attempting to reach the Tour finals.
"In the past when I was stuck in the race trying to make the World Tour Finals, that's what really gets you ... it's a mental drag (and) it becomes so hard for players," said Federer who has yet to win in Paris.
Along with Verdasco and Youzhny, Czech fifth seed Tomas Berdych also begins his bid on Tuesday to earn a London ticket.
"I remember back in 2002-03, I could hardly sleep at night because I was so excited, nervous, eager to either make it or not ... that definitely had an impact on how well I played," said Federer.
Former world number three David Nalbandian set up a meeting with Briton Andy Murray after comfortably beating Valencia runner-up Marcel Granollers of Spain on the fast indoor surface.
The tenacious Argentine, who has slipped to 25th in the rankings after an injury-hit season, sealed a 6-3 6-1 win in just over an hour with a wrong-footing volley.
"I had surgery, so always after that you can't be 100 percent, but I can be quite good," Nalbandian told reporters. "(Murray) is a complete player."
Frenchman Gilles Simon gave his Davis Cup captain Guy Forget food for thought ahead of next month's final against Serbia after showing fighting spirit.
The former top 10 player recovered from a lucklustre start to beat unheralded Kazakh Andrey Golubev 3-6 6-4 6-3 and set up a third-round match against fourth seed Robin Soderling.
Defending champion Novak Djokovic enters the fray on Wednesday when he plays American Sam Querrey and the Serb faces a tough few weeks before the Davis Cup final.
"I won't have much time beforehand to devote to the Davis Cup final," he said. "The top priority for me is to try and win the Davis Cup... a lot of countries live for these three days.
Results:
Juan Monaco, Argentina, def. Sam Querrey, United States, 7-6 (7), 6-2.
David Nalbandian, Argentina, def. Marcel Granollers, Spain, 6-3, 6-1.
Sergiy Stakhovsky, Ukraine, def. Illya Marchenko, Ukraine, 6-2, 6-2.
Thomaz Bellucci, Brazil, def. Philipp Kohlschreiber, Germany, 7-6 (5), 5-7, 6-3.
Gilles Simon, France, def. Andrey Golubev, Kazakstan, 3-6, 6-4, 6-3. ^Second Round=
Ernests Gulbis, Latvia, def. Mikhail Youzhny (9), Russia, 6-4, 3-0, retired.
Fernando Verdasco (6), Spain, def. Arnaud Clement, France, 3-6, 6-3, 6-0.
Radek Stepanek, Czech Republic, def. Nicolas Almagro (14), Spain, 7-6 (3), 6-4.
Gael Monfils (12), France, def. Benjamin Becker, Germany, 7-6 (4), 6-4.
