Fernando Verdasco will next face ATP World Tour Finals hopeful Tomas Berdych in the Paris second round.
Fernando Verdasco will next face ATP World Tour Finals hopeful Tomas Berdych in the Paris second round.
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Story highlights

World number 23 Fernando Verdasco reaches the second round of the Paris Masters

Spaniard Verdasco defeats Marin Cilic 3-6 6-2 6-3 and now faces fifth seed Tomas Berdych

Guillermo Garcia-Lopez also wins his first round match and he will play sixth seed Jo-Wilfried Tsonga

CNN  — 

Spain’s Fernando Verdasco is through to the second round of the Paris Masters after recovering from dropping the opening set to defeat Marin Cilic of Croatia.

Verdasco, ranked 23rd in the world, secured a hard-fought 3-6 6-2 6-3 victory and he will face fifth-seeded Czech Tomas Berdych in the second round.

“It’s the last tournament of the year, and I just want to finish it in the best way possible,” Verdasco told the official ATP Tour website.

Among the other matches played on Monday’s opening day, with the top 16 seeds all receiving a bye into the second round, Spain’s Guillermo Garcia-Lopez saw off Colombian Santiago Giraldo 6-4 1-6 6-4 to set up a last 32 clash with sixth seed Jo-Wilfried Tsonga.

Also progressing on Monday were Frenchmen Nicolas Mahut and Julien Benneteau, in-form German Florian Mayer and South African Kevin Anderson.

The Paris Masters is the final event on the ATP Tour calendar with three places still up for grabs in the season-ending ATP World Tour Finals in London.

Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal, Andy Murray, Roger Federer and David Ferrer have already secured their spots in the season-climax with seven players vying for the remaining places.

Depending on a host of differing scenarios, any three from Berdych, Tsonga, Mardy Fish, Nicolas Almagro, Janko Tipsarevic, Gilles Simon and Gael Monfils will take their place in ther London finals.