Novak Djokovic crashed out of the Paris Masters in his first match, losing 0-6, 7-6 (7/5), 6-4 to American journeyman Sam Querrey on Wednesday. Third seed Andy Murray took full advantage of the situation at the last event of the ATP regular season before next week's World Tour Finals, beating Frenchman Paul-Henri Mathieu 7-5, 6-3 to reach the third round.
The Scot was joined by Spanish fourth seed David Ferrer, who defeated compatriot Marcel Granollers 6-1, 6-3 and Argentine seventh seed Juan Martin del Potro, winner of his last two indoor events, who put out Alejandro Falla 6-2, 6-2. Three men stayed in the race for the two remaining spots at next week's season-ending event.
Serb Janko Tipsarevic overcame Igor Sijsling 6-4, 7-6 (7/0), Argentine Juan Monaco beat Grigor Dimitrov 7-6 (7/4), 6-2 And Spain's Nicolas Almagro defeated countryman Albert Ramos 7-6 (7/1), 6-7 (4/7), 6-3. French 12th seed Richard Gasquet lost his chance to qualify for the year-end event as he went down to Kevin Anderson 7-6 (7/5), 4-6, 6-1 Murray needed just over 90 minutes, winning with a dozen aces and 24 winners while breaking Mathieu four times.
"I served well thought I didn't start the match returning particularly well," said Murray. "I was struggling a bit with the timing. "I found the court pretty quick in comparison to how it was, how it was playing four or five days ago. I struggled a bit with that.
Djokovic, who is assured of finishing as the top of the ATP world rankings at the end of the season, has not lost a match at such an early stage of a competition since Miami in March 2010. His second round departure is a fresh blow for the tournament which has already had to do without star draw absentees Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal. Djokovic, who regardless of this defeat takes over the world number one spot from Federer on Monday, strode onto the court wearing a Darth Vader mask but found himself the victim of a Halloween horror show.
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