Fernando Verdasco beats Gilles Simon to reach 3rd round in Paris

Paris: Fernando Verdasco advanced to the third round of the Paris Masters by beating 15th-seeded Gilles Simon 6-3, 3-6, 6-4 Tuesday.

Verdasco, a former top-10 player from Spain, broke Simon on match point when the Frenchman sent a forehand long.

In the first round, Tommy Robredo of Spain beat Vasek Pospisil of Canada 6-3, 4-6, 7-6 (5), Jeremy Chardy of France defeated Kenny De Schepper of France 7-6 (5), 7-6 (4), and Pablo Cuevas of Uruguay advanced when Leonardo Mayer of Argentina retired because of a back injury while trailing 7-6 (3), 1-0.