[Brian Swartz]

Paris Masters: Opening Rounds

The first casualty of the week was obvious and has already been mentioned: by virtue of not showing up, David Alvarez was culled from the list of potentials. The others candidates, and a few who aren't, waited during their first-round bye. The second round here is always ripe territory for upsets, and a couple more long-shots went down during their initial matches this year. First, qualifier Xavier Camina(POR) defeated John Condon 6-4, 6-7(3), 6-3, then another qualifier, Sweden's Manfred Borrman, knocked Mugur Kinczllers out of contention by a 7-5, 7-6(1) final. The drawmakers were kind to Perry Mockler, who became the 7th player to qualify, partly because of his second-round win but more because most of the other players still alive were clustered on the opposite side of the draw.

Third Round Preview

All of this leaves four players, half of what there were just two days ago, still chasing one spot. Thiago Herrera holds it for now, and will keep it barring a deep run by one of the others: Smitala, Federer, and Marcelo Herrera. Here's how the matchups look for the round of 16.

** Girish Girsh vs. Marcelo Herrera -- An opportunity for Girsh to thin the ranks further. He was a bit shaky in the second set of his first match here, but is fresher than Herrera and should be able to prevail easily.

** Perry Mockler vs. Radek Smitala -- This is probably basically a coin-flip. Smitala will have to reach the final, and this is the last match that he has a decent chance at winning. It's a big mountain to climb even if his athleticism allows him to overcome his slightly more skilled counterpart in this All-American clash.

** Cestmir Marcek vs. Roger Federer -- Marcek was a 2nd-round upset victim last year, so he's already exceeded that performance. Federer has looked very good the last couple of weeks and has a fine serve; it would not be shocking at all to see him continue his run here.

** Thiago Herrera vs. Xavier Caminha -- Herrera is holding all the cards, and has the easiest matchup. I expect him to win here and put even more pressure on the trio chasing him.