tennis

Wawrinka, Ferrer advance to 3rd round at Paris Masters

Published Nov. 3, 2015 8:38 a.m. ET

foxsports

PARIS (AP) French Open champion Stan Wawrinka raised his game when needed to beat Bernard Tomic and reach the third round of the Paris Masters on Tuesday.

Wawrinka, who is bidding to become the first player to win Roland Garros and the Paris Masters the same year since Andre Agassi in 1999, saved all five break points and hit 13 aces to progress with a 6-3, 7-6 (6) win.

The fourth-seeded Swiss had to come from 5-2 down in the tiebreaker before sealing the match when the 18th-ranked Tomic hit two consecutive unforced errors.

''I was not in a good position, that's for sure,'' Wawrinka said. ''I played one good point, aggressive, then he missed an easy forehand, and you're back.''

Wawrinka, who has never advanced past the quarterfinals at the indoor tournament, will next face either 15th-seeded Feliciano Lopez or Viktor Troicki.

David Ferrer, the 2012 champion, also progressed to the third round by beating Alexandr Dogolpolov 6-2, 6-2.

The eighth-seeded Ferrer, who has qualified for the ATP finals, did not face a single break point. Next up for the 2012 champion will be either 12th-seeded Marin Cilic or Grigor Dimitrov.

Also, qualifier Edouard Roger-Vasselin ended Ivo Karlovic's chances of breaking the single-season record for aces. Karlovic hit 29 aces but lost 4-6, 7-6 (1), 7-6 (5), ending his season with 1,447 aces.

Goran Ivanisevic holds the record with 1,477 aces, set in 1996.

Karlovic had lost his last nine deciding-set tiebreakers going into the match, and Roger-Vasselin extended that streak to 10.

''I didn't know. It was better for me not to know that,'' said the Frenchman, who will take on fifth-seeded Tomas Berdych in the second round.

The Paris Masters is the final regular-season tournament before the eight best players meet in London at the ATP World Tour Finals from Nov. 15-22. Ferrer and Kei Nishikori booked the final two spots available at the elite event last week, joining top-ranked Novak Djokovic, Andy Murray, Roger Federer, Wawrinka, Rafael Nadal and Berdych.

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This story has been corrected to show that Karlovic has now lost 10 straight deciding-set tiebreakers, not 11.

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