Nadal advances to quarters in Paris

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[November 03, 2017]    The Sports Xchange

Rafael Nadal, who clinched the year-end world No. 1 ranking a day earlier, advanced into the quarterfinals of the Rolex Paris Masters on Thursday with a 6-3, 7-6 (5-7), 6-3 victory over No. 36 Pablo Cuevas of Uruguay.

 

Nadal was pushed to three sets after he lost a tiebreak in the second set before regaining his momentum. The 31-year-old next faces Serbian qualifier Filip Krajinovic.

Krajinovic knocked out wild-card Nicolas Mahut of France 6-2, 3-6, 6-1.

Earlier in the day, David Goffin lost 6-3, 6-3 to French wild-card Julien Benneteau, but Goffin still punched his ticket to the season-ending ATP Tour finals. American Jack Sock's 7-6(6), 6-3 victory over Lucas Pouille ensured that Goffin will be the first Belgian to qualify for the for the eight-player event on Nov. 12-19 at The O2 in London.

Others who have already qualified for the ATP Tour Finals are Nadal, Roger Federer, Alexander Zverev, Grigor Dimitrov, Dominic Thiem and Marin Cilic.

The last spot for the ATP Tour Finals is currently held by Spain's Pablo Carreno Busta, but Argentina's Juan Martin del Potro can bump Carreno Busta for the last spot by reaching the semifinals this week.

The 29-year-old Del Potro, the No. 13 seed, defeated Robin Haase of the Netherlands 7-5, 6-4 on Thursday to land a quarterfinal spot for the third time in the Paris event.

Del Potro's quarterfinal opponent will be ninth-seeded John Isner. The American beat Grigor Dimitrov 7-6(10), 5-7, 7-6 (3).

"It's extra motivation to me," del Potro said of qualifying for the ATP Finals. "It's going to be a good battle next round trying to qualify for London. ... Of course, I would love to reach London for once again. It could be a fantastic moment for me. But it's still a really hard challenge to me."

Isner has to win this week to qualify for the season-ending event.

Other quarterfinal matches in Paris will include Benneteau against Cilic and Sock, the No. 16 seed, against Fernando Verdasco of Spain.

Verdasco reached the quarterfinals by defeating the fifth-seeded Thiem 6-4, 6-4 in 84 minutes. Cilic, the No. 3 seed, eliminated Roberto Bautista Agut of Spain 7-6 (4), 6-2.

Verdasco's win was his second over a top 10 player this year.

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