Tsonga and Tipsarevic secure spots for ATP Finals

[November 02, 2012]  PARIS (AP) -- Frenchman Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and Serbia's Janko Tipsarevic secured the last two places for the season-ending ATP World Tour Finals after reaching the quarterfinals of the Paris Masters on Thursday.

They needed to win their third-round matches at the Bercy indoor arena in Paris, regardless of other results. Tsonga beat Nicolas Almagro of Spain, 7-6 (4), 7-6 (3) and Tipsarevic defeated Juan Monaco of Argentina 6-3, 3-6, 6-3.

They will join Novak Djokovic, Roger Federer, Andy Murray, David Ferrer, Tomas Berdych and Juan Martin del Potro at The O2 arena in London next week.

"It's really important for me to have qualified. With the big four at the moment, it's not easy to get rewards in tennis," Tsonga said. "I have some great memories from last year where I played the final against Roger. It was huge for me, one of the big moments of my career."

Tsonga will be making his third appearance at the season finale. Tipsarevic returns for a second consecutive year, having appeared as an alternate in 2011 following Murray's withdrawal due to injury.

"The World Tour Finals last year was one of my best experiences ever on the tennis court," Tipsarevic said. "I'm excited to be back there."

[Associated Press]

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