Paris, France (SportsNetwork.com) - World No. 1 star Rafael Nadal, reigning champion David Ferrer, hot Juan Martin del Potro and former titlist Roger Federer were among those posting second-round wins Wednesday at the $3.65 million Paris Masters tennis event.
The reigning U.S. and French Open champion Nadal defeated fellow Spaniard Marcel Granollers 7-5, 7-5 on Day 3.
"I didn't play well tonight," Nadal said. "Something that can happen after two weeks without playing and after a long time without playing on this kind of surface. The rhythm of my legs tonight was poor. I'm slower than usual, and a lot of mistakes, easy mistakes."
The 2007 Paris Masters runner-up Nadal will meet 14th-seeded Pole and last year's Paris Masters runner-up Jerzy Janowicz in the third round on Thursday.
The third-seeded French Open runner-up Ferrer held off Czech Lukas Rosol 6-0, 2-6, 6-3, while the fourth-seeded former U.S. Open champion del Potro dismissed Croat Marin Cilic 6-4, 7-6 (7-3) on the hardcourts at Palais Omnisports de Paris-Bercy. Del Potro is fresh off his title in Basel, while Ferrer was a runner-up in Valencia in his native Spain last week.
Ferrer, who bested the 6-foot-8 Janowicz in last year's Paris Masters finale, will meet Frenchman Gilles Simon on Thursday, while del Potro will tangle with rising Bulgarian Grigor Dimitrov.
Meanwhile, the fifth-seeded former world No. 1 Federer qualified for next week's season-ending ATP Tour World Finals for a 12th straight year by virtue of a 6-4, 6-4 victory over tall South African Kevin Anderson.
Federer, who captured this Paris Masters event two years ago, will meet German Philipp Kohlschreiber on Thursday.
Also in the top 10, sixth-seeded 2005 champion Tomas Berdych took care of Spanish lucky loser Pablo Andujar 6-2, 7-5, No. 7 seed Stan Wawrinka of Switzerland got past Spanish left-hander Feliciano Lopez 6-3, 3-6, 6-3, and 10th-seeded Canadian Milos Raonic dismissed Dutch qualifier Robin Haase 6-3, 6-4.
The aforementioned Kohlschreiber took down 11th-seeded fellow German Tommy Haas 6-2, 6-2; 12th-seeded Spaniard Nicolas Almagro beat Croat Ivan Dodig 6-4, 6-3; 13th-seeded American John Isner launched 27 aces in sneaking past Polish qualifier Michal Przysiezny 7-6 (7-3), 4-6, 6-3; and a 15th-seeded Simon edged out wild card and fellow countryman Nicolas Mahut 6-4, 6-7 (5-7), 7-6 (7-3). The 6-foot-9 Isner is rewarded with a third-rounder against second-seeded former No. 1 Novak Djokovic, the 2009 Paris Masters champ.
A mild upset came when Dimitrov took out 16th-seeded Italian Fabio Fognini 6-3, 5-7, 6-2. Dimitrov captured his first-ever ATP title in Stockholm two weeks ago.
This week's big winner will collect $720,000.
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