Paris, Nov 7: Fernando Verdasco of Spain rallied to beat Marin Cilic of Croatia 3-6, 6-2, 6-3 and advance to the second round of the Paris Masters on Monday.
Philipp Kohlschreiber of Germany, Guillermo Garcia-Lopez of Spain and Kevin Anderson of South Africa also advanced.
Cilic hit a forehand winner to take the first set but Verdasco bounced back by jumping to 3-0 leads in the second and third sets.
“It's slower than last year,” Verdasco said. “I prefer maybe a little bit more this court because it's slower and I have more time to prepare my shots.”
Verdasco is hoping to be on the Spain team for the Davis Cup final next month.
“If I play Davis Cup, then I will try to prepare and get ready for that final the best as possible,” Verdasco said. “And if I'm not, at least finish well here.”
Verdasco will next face fifth-seeded Tomas Berdych of the Czech Republic.
Earlier, Kohlschreiber defeated Mikhail Youzhny of Russia 6-4, 6-2.
The German qualifier broke to lead 4-3 in the opening set before going 4-0 up in the second.
Garcia-Lopez edged Colombian qualifier Santiago Giraldo 6-4, 1-6, 6-4 and will next play sixth-seeded Jo-Wilfried Tsonga of France.
Giraldo slammed his racket against the ground in anger after sending a backhand into the net to lose the match, despite winning 97 points compared to 94 for Garcia-Lopez.
Anderson slammed 13 aces to outlast Gilles Muller of Luxembourg 6-3, 4-6, 6-4.
The tournament is the last chance for some players to secure one of the last three remaining spots for the ATP World Tour Finals in London.
