By Adrianna Outlaw
© Fernando Verdasco

(November 9, 2010) Fernando Verdasco trimmed up before the tournament and slashed past Arnaud Clément 3-6, 6-3, 6-0 to advance to the BNP Paribas Masters round of 16 in Paris today. The sixth-seeded Spaniard must reach the semifinals in Paris  — and benefit from higher-ranked players losing  — to qualify for the season-ending ATP Tour Finals in London for the second straight year.

Sporting a new haircut slightly reminiscent of his faux mohawk style of the past, the 26-year-old Verdasco raised his record in Paris to 4-6. He will face either Frenchman Gael Monfils or Germany's Benjamin Becker for a spot in the quarterfinals.

The 14th-ranked Monfils, the 2009 Paris runner-up to Novak Djokovic, beat Verdasco 7-5, 6-4, in their lone prior meeting in Monte Carlo two years ago.

Coming off an abysmal effort in a 6-1, 6-3 loss to Gilles Simon in Valencia last week, Verdasco looked tentative on his backhand, indecisive on his forehand and was telegraphing his serve almost exclusively to Clément's superior backhand on the ad side for the first set and a half.

When the French wild card, who defeated Verdasco's Davis Cup doubles partner Feliciano Lopez on Monday, deposited a forehand drop volley winner to break for a 3-2 second-set lead, he appeared to be in control.

Verdasco had other ideas.

Finally finding the range on his favored forehand, Verdasco reeled off nine consecutive games to seal a one hour, 49-minute win that sustained his slim London hopes though he will need help from players ranked ahead of him — No. 8 Andy Roddick, No. 7 David Ferrer and No. 6 Tomas Berdych, who would have clinched his spot in the ATP World Tour Finals had Verdasco lost today — in order to secure a spot in the eight-man field for the ATP season finale.



David Nalbandian crushed Marcel Granollers, 6-3, 6-1, and will face Andy Murray in the second round. Murray beat Nalbandian, Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer in winning the Rogers Cup in Toronto last summer.

Shanghai semifinalist Juan Monaco swept Sam Querrey, 7-6(7), 6-2, in one hour, 25 minutes to raise his record to 3-1 against the American Monaco meets second-seeded Novak Djokovic in the second round.

The 28-year-old Youzhny, who withdrew from last week's Valencia Open 500 because of his back injury, is in 10th place in the ATP race for the season-ending London event and needed to reach the Paris final to secure one of eight spots at the ATP World Tour Finals.

World No. 1 Rafael Nadal, 16-time Grand Slam champion Roger Federer, Novak Djokovic, Andy Murray and two-time French Open finalist Robin Soderling have already clinched their places in the London field.