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Paris Masters - Third Round
This is the stage where players really start getting separated out, the last chance as they go up against each other. A number of them always get eliminated here.
** Agustin Herrera matched up with Girish Girsh, objectively now the top indoor player in the world in addition to being world no. 1. Girsh won easily, 6-2, 6-2, and Herrera is out of the running.
** Garreth McCuskey had a definite opportunity to keep going against Peruvian qualifier Andre Herrera, but he lost 6-3, 6-4 and his chances were ended here as well.
** Anil Mehul moved through another match easily, dispatching qualifier Pavel Bestemianov. The aging Russian had an impressive run just to get here.
** Theodore Bourdet was involved in the day's best match against Mugur Kinczllers. Kinczllers had narrowly survived yesterday; here he narrowly didn't, with the crowd urging Bourdet past, 6-4, 4-6, 6-4. This will make it that much harder for anyone to surpass him ...
** Thiago Herrera now had the best chance to play spoiler, but he was dumped out by Antonin Iglar, 6-2, 6-4.
** In couple of matches with no bearing, Federer got the upset against Gaskell, and Caratti advanced with a win over Alberti.
** Davide Poilblan's youth and favor with the crowd proved more than enough against Bjorn Benda, 6-3, 6-4. Poilblan is the lone remaining long-shot now, but he'd need to go all the way and win the title in order to have a chance at this point.
Benda is now nearly assured of the 7th spot. He will have to watch the quarterfinals now, but the only way he doesn't make the Tour Finals is if both Bourdet and Poilblan make the championship match with Poilblan winning. That is unlikely in the extreme.
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