Djokovic, Murray, Federer reach third round in Paris
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Four of the top-five players in the world, round winners Wednesday at the $3.06 million Paris Masters, the final ATP Masters event of the year.
The world No. 1 Djokovic improved to a remarkable 68-4 for the year with a 6-4, 6-3 handling of Croat Ivan Dodig on the indoor hardcourts at Palais Omnisports de Paris-Bercy.
Djokovic, who headed to Paris amid concerns about a shoulder injury that bothered him last week in Basel, is the reigning U.S. Open, Wimbledon and Australian Open champion and titled here at the Paris Masters in 2009.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}The 24-year-old Djokovic will earn a $1.6 million bonus paid to the top players for appearing in eight Masters tournaments. Djokovic did not play in Shanghai last month because of injury and would have lost the entire bonus had he not played here in Paris.
"It was really somehow funny for me to see how people are coming up with that story," Djokovic said. "I even heard that I would get on the court and play a game just to get this money. I mean, this is ridiculous."
Djokovic's third-round opponent on Thursday will be fellow Serb Viktor Troicki.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Meanwhile, the Aussie Open runner-up Murray improved to 16-0 since the U.S. Open with a 6-2, 6-4 victory over French wild card Jeremy Chardy on Day 3, while a third-seeded Federer cruised past French wild card Adrian Mannarino 6-2, 6-3. Federer is seeking his second tile in two weeks, as he's fresh off a championship in his native Basel last week, which marked the Swiss icon's first title in 10 months.
Up next for Murray will be 13th-seeded American Andy Roddick, while the 2011 French Open runner-up and 16-time major champion Federer will encounter 16th- seeded Frenchman Richard Gasquet.
Fourth-seeded world No. 5 Spaniard David Ferrer moved into the round of 16 with a 6-4, 6-4 victory over French qualifier Nicolas Mahut.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}French players have gone 0-3 so far on Wednesday.
In other action involving seeds, No. 11 rising Serb Janko Tipsarevic trounced American Alex Bogomolov Jr. 6-1, 6-0 in a mere 50 minutes, No. 14 Alexandr Dolgopolov of Ukraine dismissed German Philipp Kohlschreiber 6-3, 7-6 (8-6) and a No. 15 Troicki bested Ukrainian qualifier Sergiy Stakhovsky 6-4, 6-4.
Another second-round result saw 6-foot-9 American John Isner handle Russian lucky-loser Igor Kunitsyn 6-4, 6-4.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}The 2011 Paris Masters titlist will claim $625,000.