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Wawrinka, Gasquet complete Finals lineup

By Reuters in Paris | China Daily | Updated: 2013-11-02 07:22

Swiss Stanislas Wawrinka and France's Richard Gasquet snatched the last two places for next week's ATP World Tour Finals after Canadian Milos Raonic was knocked out of the Paris Masters in the third round on Thursday.

Wawrinka and Gasquet will be at the London event along with Spain's Rafa Nadal and David Ferrer, Serb Novak Djokovic, Swiss Roger Federer, Czech Tomas Berdych and Argentine Juan Martin del Potro.

Wawrinka and Gasquet, who started the week in Paris in eighth and ninth places respectively in the ATP Race to London, cannot be caught by Raonic, who lost 7-6 (13), 6-4 to Berdych.

The cut-off point for qualification was lowered to ninth place after British world No 4 Andy Murray pulled out of the season finale because of lower back surgery.

Raonic, who was 11th, had to at least reach the final in Paris to qualify for the London event.

Wawrinka, who will take part in the season-ender for the first time, and Gasquet are enjoying a fine run in Paris.

The Swiss easily beat Nicolas Almagro 6-3, 6-2 to set up a quarterfinal with world No 2 Djokovic.

Gasquet, enjoying his best season since 2007 when he also took part in the season-ending showcase event in Shanghai, grabbed his 50th win of the season for the first time when he beat Japan's Kei Nishikori 6-3, 6-2.

The Frenchman started the match knowing he would play in London next week, which obviously helped him relax.

"You can try to say you're not looking, that you will be concentrating on your own match,.

"But I wanted to know because I was relieved when I knew I had qualified so I was not so tense for my match," Gasquet said.

"I mean, it's sports. It's normal I was relieved that he (Raonic) lost."

Gasquet will next play world No 1 Rafa Nadal, who broke the stubborn resistance of Poland's Jerzy Janowicz's to win 7-5, 6-4 and reach the last eight on Thursday.

Djokovic and 17-time Grand Slam champion Roger Federer, who is ranked sixth, also advanced.

Djokovic dispensed with his Darth Vader mask and proved too strong for American John Isner in a 6-7(5), 6-1, 6-2 victory.

Federer showed glimpses of his brilliant best as he outclassed German Philip Kohlschreiber 6-3, 6-4 to advance.

 

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