PARIS, Oct 30: Kei Nishikori of Japan put an end to Jo-Wilfried Tsonga’s bid for an ATP World Tour Finals spot by defeating the Frenchman 1-6, 7-6, 7-6 on Tuesday in the second round of the Paris Masters.

Fellow Frenchman Richard Gasquet overcame Fernando Verdasco 7-5, 6-7, 6-3 and that along with the elimination of Tsonga gave him a double boost to grab one of the three remaining tickets to next week’s season-ending London event.

The win for Gasquet, who is clinging to the eighth and final place for London which is available as Andy Murray is injured, means Tsonga is now out of the picture while Canadian Milos Raonic can still oust the Frenchman with a strong run this week.

Five players — Rafa Nadal, Novak Djokovic, David Ferrer, Juan Martin del Potro and Tomas Berdych — have already secured their places at the ATP World Tour finals.

Swiss Roger Federer, who is seventh in the race, will qualify if he wins his first match at Bercy after a bye into the second round.

His compatriot Stanislas Wawrinka and Gasquet started the week in eighth and ninth places respectively.

Tsonga, who now cannot improve on his 10th place, came out firing against Nishikori, punishing the Japanese with his booming forehand.

He inexplicably lost focus in the second set, falling 4-1 behind. Although he managed to force a tiebreak, a string of unforced errors threw the match into a decider, which Nishikori won when his opponent double-faulted on match point.

It was due reward for the top ranked Asian player who refused to throw in the towel despite being overwhelmed in the opening frame.

The 23-year-old, who earlier this year became the first Japanese player to reach the fourth round of the French Open since 1938, now faces his third successive Frenchman in Gasquet for a place in the quarter-finals.

World number two Djokovic started his campaign with a routine second-round 7-6, 6-3 win over French qualifier Pierre-Hugues Herbert.

In another second-round match, last year’s runner-up Jerzy Janowicz of Poland beat Colombian qualifier Santiago Giraldo 7-6, 6-3.

Earlier Bulgaria’s Grigor Dimitrov continued his rich vein of form as he marched into the second round with a three-set win over two-time semi-finalist Michael Llodra of France 6-7, 6-3, 6-3.

Llodra’s compatriot Nicolas Mahut fared better as he fired down eight aces to overwhelm Ukrainian Alexandr Dolgopolov 7-6, 6-1.

Spanish lucky loser Pablo Andujar overcame Vasek Pospisil of Canada 6-4, 2-6, 6-4, and Kevin Anderson of South Africa was leading 4-6, 7-6, 2-1 when his opponent, Mikhail Youzhny of Russia, retired because of pain in his right elbo

Results (prefix number denotes seeding):

Second round: 2-Novak Djokovic (Serbia) bt Pierre-Hugues Herbert (France) 7-6 (7-3), 6-3; Kei Nishikori (Japan) bt 8-Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (France) 1-6, 7-6 (7-4), 7-6 (9-7); 14-Jerzy Janowicz (Poland) bt Santiago Giraldo (Colombia) 7-6 (7-3), 6-3; 9-Richard Gasquet (France) bt Fernando Verdasco (Spain) 7-5, 6-7 (6-8), 6-3.

First round:

Kevin Anderson (South Africa) bt Mikhail Youzhny (Russia) 4-6, 7-6 (7-0), 2-1—Youzhny retired; Marcel Granollers (Spain) bt Dmitry Tursunov (Russia) 6-4, 6-4; Ivan Dodig (Croatia) bt Edouard Roger-Vasselin (France) 7-6 (8-6), 6-4; Pablo Andujar (Spain) bt Vasek Pospisil (Canada) 6-4, 2-6, 6-4; Nicolas Mahut (France) bt Alexandr Dolgopolov (Ukraine) 7-6 (8-6), 6-1; Grigor Dimitrov (Bulgaria) bt Michael Llodra (France) 6-7 (5-7), 6-3, 6-3; Michal Przysiezny (Poland) bt Jarkko Nieminen (Finland) 6-3, 7-6 (8-6).—Agencies