Paris: Top-ranked Novak Djokovic rallied from a set down on Thursday to beat fellow Serb Viktor Troicki 4-6, 6-3, 6-1 and reach the quarter-finals of the Paris Masters.
Andy Murray of Britain, Roger Federer of Switzerland, Tomas Berdych of the Czech Republic, David Ferrer of Spain and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga of France also advanced.
Djokovic looked a pale shadow of the player who dominated the first half of the season, making 44 unforced errors compared to 28 winners.
"It`s obvious that I`m still not playing in the form that I had in the last 10 months," said Djokovic, who returned to the court in Basel last week after a six-week injury layoff. "It takes a little bit of time to get into the rhythm."
Djokovic dropped serve twice to lose the first set. But he broke for a 4-2 lead in the second, and leveled the match when Tipsarevic sent a backhand wide. The Wimbledon and US Open champion then raced to a 4-0 lead in the final set.
Djokovic will next play Tsonga.
Murray routed Andy Roddick of the United States 6-2, 6-2 and will next face 2005 champion Berdych, who beat Janko Tipsarevic 7-5, 6-4.
The second-seeded British player improved his record to 17-0 since the US Open and has now won 27 of his last 28 matches since mid-August.
Murray outclassed Roddick, hitting 27 winners compared to only four for the American. He broke Roddick twice in each set, taking the first with a crosscourt forehand winner before clinching victory with an ace.
"I started the match well, which against him is always important, because he plays his best when he`s ahead," Murray said. "Because I broke him earlier, I was able to dictate a lot of what happened out there."
Roddick received a warning from the chair umpire at 2-0 in the second set after smashing his racket out of frustration. Roddick will finish the season outside the top 10 for the first time since 2001.
"I just need to get in better shape as far as movement, and kind of catch up a little bit," Roddick said.
The fifth-seeded Berdych trailed 5-1 in the first set and 4-1 in the second, but fought back both times to clinch his spot at the ATP World Tour Finals. His victory meant Tsonga and Mardy Fish also secured spots at the season-ending tournament in London, with Tipsarevic missing out.
Tipsarevic made two double-faults in a row to set up match point for Berdych.
Federer downed Richard Gasquet of France 6-2, 6-4 and will next meet Juan Monaco of Argentina. The third-seeded Swiss broke serve twice in the first set and took a 4-3 lead in the second on a double-fault from Gasquet before clinching victory with a forehand winner.
Meanwhile, fourth-seeded David Ferrer of Spain ousted Alexandr Dolgopolov of Ukraine 6-3, 6-2, and the sixth-seeded Tsonga defeated Andreas Seppi of Italy 6-3, 6-4.
Ferrer will take on American John Isner, who beat Feliciano Lopez of Spain 6-4, 6-2.
A double-fault from Seppi gave Tsonga a 2-0 lead and the Frenchman took the first set with a forehand winner. The 2008 champion then broke for a 4-3 lead in the second, winning the match when Seppi netted a forehand.
Fish was leading 6-1, 6-7 (6), 2-1 against Juan Monaco of Argentina when a leg injury forced him to retire.
Having won six games in a row to take the first set, the seventh-seeded American had a chance to earn two match points in the tiebreaker of the second. But he hit a volley into the net, sent a forehand return long and then volleyed wide for Monaco to level.
"It`s kind of a shame I couldn`t get it done in the second set," Fish said, "because I felt like I was playing a lot better than he was."
Fish received treatment to his left thigh in the final set but was forced to quit after playing one more point.
"I started feeling it late, probably late in the second set," Fish said. "It went from sort of tightness and an uncomfortable feeling to, in that last game that I served, a lot more pain, a lot sharper."
The injury was a re-occurrence of his hamstring problem from the Swiss Indoors in Basel last week, but Fish still plans to play in the Tour Finals in London.
Bureau Report
First Published: Friday, November 11, 2011, 08:45