But again, all in all, it was a very solid match.
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Despite sitting 39 places below Djokovic in the world rankings, Bellucci – aiming for his first win over the Serbian – broke for a 3-2 lead in the first set.
Like Tomas Berdych, he has picked up two titles in the last month with wins in Kuala Lumpur and Vienna, ensuring his qualification for the season finale.
Moving fluidly and transitioning smoothly from defense to offense, the three-time champion played with control for much of the match launching his bid to break a record he shares with coach Boris Becker and Marat Safin in become the first four-time champion in tournament history.
Djokovic’s previous indoor match was November past year in London, where he ended his season by clinching the title at the ATP World Tour Finals.
The world number one moves on to play the victor of an all-French matchup between Benoit Paire and Gilles Simon. “So – I’m fully committed but I try to take, as you said, one match at a time…but I do visualize myself and I do dream of and kind of set my goals to winning grand slams”, says tennis’ no. 1 player.
Stan Wawrinka joined Djokovic in the round of 16 with a 6-3 7-6 (8/6) victory over Bernard Tomic.
David Ferrer also won over Alexandr Dolgopolov to reach the third round.
After a year-long battle for points in the Race to London standings, the field for the season-ending showpiece was finalised on Saturday.
The break roused Djokovic, who immediately broke back reeling off eight of the next nine points for a 4-3 advantage.
The World No. 4 from Switzerland trailed 5-2 in the tie-break but raised his game to close out the match in straight sets at a renovated Bercy Hall.
Also, qualifier Edouard Roger-Vasselin ended Ivo Karlovic‘s chances of breaking the single-season record for aces.
Third seed Roger Federer highlights the schedule of matches on Wednesday in Paris.
Elsewhere in the first round, Viktor Troicki made short work of Jack Sock in a 6-2 6-3 win and 18-year-old Borna Coric saw off Fernando Verdasco 6-4 6-4.
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While the result everybody remembers when it comes to Seppi is his defeat of Federer at the Australian Open, that was definitely an aberration when one considers their overall head-to-head, dominated soundly by the Swiss player. Seventh seed Rafael Nadal takes on Lukas Rosol for the second time in as many weeks.
