Nadal withdraws, Federer advances by walk over in Paris Masters

RAFAEL Nadal, erstwhile world number one and top seed in Paris, withdrew from the event because of an abdominal injury preventing him from the second round face-off with compatriot Fernando Verdasco.

On a day of drama, the third seeded Roger Federer advanced to the third round by a walk-over when his scheduled opponent, Milos Raonic could not compete. The immediate effect is the ascendancy of Djokovic to the top spot in the rankings.

The day started with sched- ule matches and players moving to the third round; with the top seeds playing their first match having drawn byes into the second round. Grigor Dimitrov of Bulgaria defeated Spain’s Roberto Bautista Agut 7/6 (10: 6/4 while Alexander Zverev marched on with a 6/4; 6/4 victory over America’s Frances Tiafoe.

John Isner outlasted Kukushkin of Kazakhstan in a marathon 6/3; 6/7 (2); 7/6 (1) marathon in which the American’s service power determined the outcome. Kei Nishikori continued his consistent winning ways in defeating Adrian Mannarino 7/5; 6/4. Marin Cilic kept his London quest alive with a quick 6/3; 6/4 win over Germany’s Philip Kohlschreiber.

The second seeded Djokovic had no idea that his second round victory over Portugal’s Jaoa Sousa would propel him to the top spot when the news of Nadal’s withdrawal spread through the venue. Nadal has never won this indoor hard-court tournament; despite his eleven victories in the Grand Slam of a city he described the most important in his professional career. He had played the indoor event 6 times and reached the finals on his debut in 2007.