Paris Masters: race to London heats up

Seven players remain in contention for the final two spots at the ATP Finals in London, adding a dose of urgency and intrigue to this week’s Paris Masters.

The tournament, beleaguered at the weekend due to the sheer number of high-profile withdrawals, has now become must-see viewing, with a full house packing into Bercy Arena to watch Rafael Nadal seal the year-end No.1 ranking and several others battling for a berth in London.

RELATED: Nadal creates history in ending season at No.1

David Goffin is the best-placed of that group; he’s currently seventh in the race and, following his three-set win over Adrian Mannarino in the second round on Wednesday, needs to win just one more match to reach the quarterfinals and confirm his spot.

Seven contenders left for the two remaining ATP Finals spots… pic.twitter.com/IPsPJtDz9w

— Stuart Fraser (@stu_fraser) November 1, 2017

Goffin will face the unseeded Julien Benneteau in the last 16; Benneteau ended Jo-Wilfried Tsonga’s hopes of qualifying for London with a 2-6 7-6(4) 6-2 victory on Wednesday.

Pablo Carreno Busta currently clings to the eighth and final place in London, but continued his post-US Open slump with an opening-round loss on Tuesday.

Sam Querrey also lost on Tuesday to fall out of contention, while 12th seed Kevin Anderson was also ruled out when he was beaten in three sets by Spanish veteran Fernando Verdasco.

Like Carreno Busta, Anderson and Querrey performed strongly at the US Open, but have since barely been able to win a match despite an ATP Finals berth being a realistic proposition.

A full house at the Bercy Arena watches Rafael Nadal in action at the Paris Masters; Getty Images

Anderson went 3-5 after his final in Flushing Meadows, while Querrey went 2-4 after reaching the quarters in New York. Carreno Busta crashed even harder, going 1-5 after reaching the US Open semis.

That leaves Juan Martin del Potro as perhaps the best-placed to leapfrog Carreno Busta and seal his spot in London.

The in-form Argentine won his 19th match in his past 23 outings with a 6-2 6-2 demolition of Joao Sousa. He next faces Robin Haase, and if he’s to make the Paris semifinals to keep his London hopes alive, he’ll have to go through either sixth seed Grigor Dimitrov or No.9 seed John Isner in the quarters.

Isner is another still in with a shot of appearing in London; he and Jack Sock and Roberto Bautista Agut need to win the title and hope that other results in Paris go their way.

All three won on Wednesday to take their place in the third round, with Sock recovering from 5-1 down in the third set to beat Kyle Edmund 4-6 7-6(4) 7-6(5).

That victory sets up a third-round meeting with 17th seed Lucas Pouille, the other man who can still clinch a spot in London.

The Vienna champion took his winning streak to six with a straight-sets win over Feliciano Lopez.