Verdasco rallies for win

Paris - Fernando Verdasco of Spain rallied to beat Marin Cilic of Croatia 3-6, 6-2, 6-3 and advance to the second round of the Paris Masters on Monday.

Philipp Kohlschreiber of Germany, Guillermo Garcia-Lopez of Spain and Kevin Anderson of South Africa also advanced.

Cilic hit a forehand winner to take the first set but Verdasco bounced back by jumping to a 3-0 lead in the second and third sets.

"It's slower than last year," Verdasco said. "I prefer maybe a little bit more this court because it's slower and I have more time to prepare my shots."

Verdasco is hoping to be on the Spain team for the Davis Cup final next month.

"If I play Davis Cup, then I will try to prepare and get ready for that final the best as possible," Verdasco said. "And if I'm not, at least finish well here."

Verdasco will next face fifth-seeded Tomas Berdych of the Czech Republic.

Earlier, Kohlschreiber defeated Mikhail Youzhny of Russia 6-4, 6-2.

The German qualifier broke to lead 4-3 in the opening set before going 4-0 up in the second.

Garcia-Lopez edged Colombian qualifier Santiago Giraldo 6-4, 1-6, 6-4 and will next play sixth-seeded Jo-Wilfried Tsonga of France.

Giraldo slammed his racket against the ground in anger after sending a backhand into the net to lose the match, despite winning 97 points compared to 94 for Garcia-Lopez.

Anderson slammed 13 aces to outlast Gilles Muller of Luxembourg 6-3, 4-6, 6-4.

The tournament is the last chance for some players to secure one of the last three remaining spots for the ATP World Tour Finals in London.

Results on Monday from the Paris Masters (seedings in parentheses):

Singles

First Round

Philipp Kohlschreiber, Germany, def. Mikhail Youzhny, Russia, 6-4, 6-2.
Guillermo Garcia-Lopez, Spain, def. Santiago Giraldo, Colombia, 6-4, 1-6, 6-4.
Fernando Verdasco, Spain, def. Marin Cilic, Croatia, 3-6, 6-2, 6-3.
Kevin Anderson, South Africa, def. Gilles Muller, Luxembourg, 6-3, 4-6, 6-4.
Florian Mayer, Germany, def. Radek Stepanek, Czech Republic, 7-5, 6-3.
Julien Benneteau, France, def. Milos Raonic, Canada, 6-7 (5), 7-6 (5), 6-4.
Alex Bogomolov Jr., United States, def. Thomaz Bellucci, Brazil, 4-6, 7-6 (4), 6-2.
Andreas Seppi, Italy, def. Nikolay Davydenko, Russia, 7-6 (2), 7-5.
Nicolas Mahut, France, def. Juan Carlos Ferrero, Spain, 6-2, 6-3.
Adrian Mannarino, France, def. Dmitry Tursunov, Russia, 6-2, 6-2.