Murray reaches third round of Paris Masters
Andy Murray turned in a clinical performance on Wednesday as he joined Stan Wawrinka, David Ferrer and Milos Raonic in the next round of the Paris Masters.
The two-time grand slam tennis winner overcame the challenge of French world number 28 Julien Benneteau and advanced to the last 16, winning 6-3, 6-4.
The 27-year-old Scot will now meet either Bulgarian Grigour Dimitrov or Pablo Cuevas of Uruguay for a place in the quarter-finals.
If Murray, who won his third tournament of the season at Valencia on Sunday, wins his next match he will guarantee qualification for the World Tour Finals in London for the seventh straight year.
World number four Stan Wawrinka snapped a three-game losing streak as he qualified for the third round with a 6-4, 7-6 (8-6) victory over Dominic Thiem.
“I’m trying to find my confidence, I have some victories but I know that my level of game is there. What I still miss is winning matches,” said Wawrinka, who won his first grand slam at the Australian Open in January and admitted he was somewhat surprised by his recent rise into the top five.
“I’m so happy, I didn’t think I would be able to be ranked so high, but I had ups and downs. In the summer I didn’t play very well and I had bad moments, although I did well in the US Open.
Former champion and fourth seed David Ferrer also advanced as he subdued the talents of rising Belgian star David Goffin 6-3, 2-6, 6-3 to set up an all-Spanish third round tie against Fernando Verdasco.
Earlier, Canada’s Milos Raonic kept alive his chances of qualifying for the World Tour Finals with a tough three-set win over American qualifier Jack Sock.
