Nishikori sweeps into Paris last 16

Paris - Japanese fifth seed Kei Nishikori eased into the last 16 of the Paris Masters on Wednesday with a 6-2, 7-5 win over Serbia's Viktor Troicki.

Nishikori, who is set to make his third appearance at the end-of-season Tour finals this month, reeled off five games in succession to take the opening set.

The former US Open finalist twice dropped serve early in the second set but earned a crucial break at 5-all to set up a potential showdown with Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in the next round.

Nishikori, 26, finished runner-up to Novak Djokovic at both the Miami Masters and Toronto Masters earlier this year.

Belgium's David Goffin remained in contention for a London berth after he defeated Frenchman Nicolas Mahut 7-6 (7/5), 6-3 in round two.

The eighth seed currently trails Dominic Thiem, Marin Cilic and Tomas Berdych in the race for the final two places.