Schwartzman and Mannarino cruise past Gasquet and Nishioka to reach Paris Masters round 3

Schwartzman and Mannarino advanced to the Paris Masters round 3 following victories over Gasquet and Nishioka.

Diego Schwartzman returned to tennis at the Paris Masters today taking on native player Richard Gasquet. The Frenchman had a good outing in the opening round defeating Fritz but Schwartzman is totally different player and it showed early. Right from the start Diego took the initiative and jumped out to an early lead 3-0. Gasquet had chances to come back into the match and he eventually did making it 4-4. Nonetheless, the Argentinian clinched the opening set with a strong finish 7-5. The 2nd set was a much easier job for Schwartzman as Gasquet simply could not match his level so Diego took another early 3-1 lead. Schwartzman proceeded to end the match with a 6-3 2nd set victory.

Another Frenchman played at the same time as Gasquet and it was Mannarino. Adrian has been playing some good tennis lately but his final lost in Astana was a tough one to swallow. He bounced back strongly in the first round by beating Lajovic and continued to play well in the 2nd round against Nishioka. He forced break balls early but Nishioka saved them. He would not save later ones so Mannarino won the opening set 6-3. The start of the 2nd set was uneventful as both players won their opening games. Mannarino looked better overall and soon he found a way to break Nishioka but Yoshihito fought back to tie it at 3-3. Neither player could find the breakthrough so we ended up in a tiebreak. A very messy tiebreak ensued where both players struggled with their serve but ultimately Nishioka came out on top winning it 7-5.

The final set opened better for Mannarino who had an easier time winning games. Nishioka ran into some troubles later in the set when Mannarino got his first break points and used the immediately. After that the Frenchman never looked back and cruised to a 6-3 final set victory.