Federer, Nadal, Blake advance to third round of Paris Masters

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PARIS, Nov 1 (AP): Top-seeded Roger Federer beat Ivo Karlovic of Croatia 6-3, 4-6, 6-3 Wednesday to reach the third round of the Paris Masters and earn a chance to avenge his loss to David Nalbandian less than two weeks ago.
Nalbandian beat Federer for the Madrid Masters title on Oct. 21 and has won both times the two have met in a tournament final. Having won four of the last five, Federer has an 8-7 edge over the Argentine, who advanced after beating 14th-seeded Carlos Moya 6-4, 6-4.
"I prefer to play him in the second or third round," Federer said. "He shanks balls and doesn't serve that good. His whole entire game is not as sharp as later in the rounds."
Federer looked in control of the second set, even managing to lob the ball over the 2.08-metre (6-foot-10) Karlovic from the back of the court with one typically flamboyant shot. But after a flurry of Karlovic aces, Federer trailed 0-40 in the 10th game. After saving two break points, he returned long on the third.
The final few games had gone so quickly that neither player was sure the set was even completed.
The sixth-seeded Blake beat Nicolas Mahut of France 6-7 (3), 7-6 (4), 6-1, and the 10th-seeded Gasquet topped Jo-Wilfried Tsonga 7-5, 7-6 (3).
Blake hit two aces to close out the tiebreaker and served out the match when Mahut returned into the net.
Meanwhile, Djokovic was ousted from the Paris Masters, losing to French veteran Fabrice Santoro 6-3, 6-2 in the second round.
Djokovic, who returned to training Monday, lost to Nalbandian in the Madrid semifinals on Oct. 20.
Nadal overcame an early to break to easily beat Filippo Volandri 6-3, 6-1 and reach the third round.
Nadal will next play Stanislas Wawrinka of Switzerland, who beat Juan Ignacio Chela 6-3, 6-1.