• BNP Paribas Masters

Djokovic sees off tricky Troicki to reach Paris quarters

Novak Djokovic is into the quarter-finals in Paris © PA Photos

Enlarge

Related Links

• News: Murray crushes Roddick in Paris
  
• News: Djokovic playing through the pain in Paris
  
• Profile: Novak Djokovic | Janko Tipsarevic | Jo-Wilfried Tsonga

Novak Djokovic shrugged off a shaky start to reach the quarter-finals at the BNP Paribas Masters in Paris with victory over fellow Serb Viktor Troicki.

The world No. 1, who admitted after his second-round match that he was playing through the pain in Paris, had to fight back from a set down to defeat his friend and rival 4-6 6-3 6-1.

Djokovic, who suffered a shoulder injury at the Swiss Indoors in Basel last week, was punished for a sluggish start as Troicki grabbed an early break. Djokovic battled back to level proceedings, but once again Troicki forged ahead with a superb drop shot.

He consolidated the break with an ace to take a 5-3 lead, and showed real strength of character to fend off two break-back points to hang on to take the opening set.

Djokovic grabbed an early break in the second, only for Troicki to bounce back. But Djokovic has only lost four matches all season, and hasn't lost to Troicki since 2007, and he showed his class as he grabbed the lead once again. Two aces helped him hold serve after a brief wobble as the match headed for a decider.

From then it was all one-way traffic as Djokovic dominated the baseline rallies and pummelled a series of winners, racing to a 4-0 lead. Troicki stemmed the flood with a service hold, but it merely delayed the inevitable as Djokovic powered to victory.

Next up for Djokovic is home favourite Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, who had a double reason for celebration on Thursday. The Frenchman booked his place at the ATP World Tour Finals in London without lifting his racket, but had plenty to smile about when he did take to the court after easing past Italian Andreas Seppi 6-3 6-4.

Tsonga had Tomas Berdych to thank for booking his place at the O2 Arena after the Czech beat Janko Tipsarevic 7-5 6-4. Tipsarevic, who had to reach the final in Paris to have a hope of qualifying, fell in straight sets. Berdych's win also secured his place at the year-end finals.

Completing the eight-man line-up was Mardy Fish, but the American No. 1 picked up a thigh injury during his third-round match against Juan Monaco. Fish flew through the opening set, but squandered two match points as Monaco battled back to win the second set tiebreak. After receiving treatment from the trainer, Fish decided he was unable to continue, and offered Monaco his hand with the scores at 6-1 7-6(6) 1-2.

Monaco will now face Roger Federer in the quarter-finals, after the Swiss cruised to a 6-2 6-4 victory over Richard Gasquet that took him little more than an hour.

Federer looked in beautiful rhythm from the off and needed little time to get ahead, breaking his French opponent in the very first game of the match. Gasquet picked up the standard as the first set progressed but Federer was simply a class apart, moving his opponent around the court at will and easing into a set's lead.

The second set was a closer affair, despite the fact Federer again broke early. But Gasquet immediately evened the score after a game where his returns were unstoppable - but that was just a brief blip as Federer grabbed another break and then eventually closed out the match thanks to another pinpoint forehand.

Fourth seed David Ferrer reached the quarter-finals for the first time since 2007 after seeing off Ukraine's Alexandr Dolgopolov 6-3 6-2. The Spaniard, who dropped his serve once in the 74-minute match, now awaits John Isner.

Isner, the last player on court for his match with Feliciano Lopez could have been forgiven for being a little apprehensive after seeing the fates that befell his two fellow Americans earlier in the day, but he needn't have worried as he cruised to a 6-4 6-2 victory.

© ESPN Sports Media Ltd.