Roddick, Isner advance in Paris

Americans Andy Roddick and John Isner advanced Tuesday at the Paris Masters.

Roddick defeated Julien Benneteau of France 6-4, 6-4, making 12 unforced errors compared to 25 for his opponent. Isner relied on his strong serve to edge Stanislas Wawrinka 6-7 (3), 7-5, 7-6 (5). He had 20 aces, including on match point.

''I've been in that situation, a bunch of tight matches, where although I'm maybe a little tired, I'm still able to hit my biggest serve,'' Isner said. ''That's what I did.''

Isner is ranked 25th and hopes to get into the top 10.

''It's something I definitely think I can do,'' Isner said. ''It won't happen this year, but it's going to be one of my goals in 2012.''

Juan Monaco of Argentina cruised past Donald Young of the United States 6-4, 6-2, and Richard Gasquet of France defeated Kevin Anderson of South Africa 6-4, 7-6 (4).

Roddick hit a forehand return winner followed by a running forehand winner down the line to take the first set. The 2003 U.S. Open champion rallied from 3-1 down in the final set to convert his first match point with a backhand volley.

''It's a lot slower than last year,'' Roddick said about the surface. ''I don't know if they enjoy keeping us guessing, because you never know what you're going to get when you come to this tournament as far as what the court is going to be.''

Roddick can no longer qualify for the ATP World Tour Finals, but he can still end the year in the top 10. The last time Roddick failed to finish a season in the top 10 was 2001.

''I'm looking forward to this offseason and getting an extended period to train, come back, and feel like I'm actually ready,'' Roddick said.

Tomas Berdych is just one win away from securing a berth in the ATP World Tour Finals after edging Fernando Verdasco of Spain 6-3, 7-5.

The 2005 Paris champion won five straight games in the first set to rally from a 3-1 deficit, hitting 12 winners to only three for Verdasco.

Berdych broke the Spaniard twice for a 5-2 lead in the second set but wasted four match points to let Verdasco tie at 5-5. But the fifth-seeded Czech broke Verdasco again with a forehand pass before clinching victory with a crosscourt backhand winner.

Also, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga of France, Feliciano Lopez of Spain, Ivan Dodig of Croatia, Sergiy Stakhovsky of Ukraine and Jeremy Chardy of France won their first-round matches.

Tsonga defeated Guillermo Garcia-Lopez of Spain 6-3, 6-4. The sixth-seeded Tsonga can secure a spot for the tour finals by winning his next match.

Lopez beat Michael Llodra of France 7-6 (7), 6-3, Dodig rallied past Fabio Fognini of Italy 4-6, 6-1, 6-3 and Stakhovsky defeated Kei Nishikori of Japan 6-4, 6-3.

Lopez saved four set points in the tiebreaker before taking a 4-0 lead in the second set and landing an ace to clinch victory. The Spanish lefty will next play eighth-seeded Gael Monfils of France.

Dodig will take on top-seeded Novak Djokovic.

Nishikori struggled after stunning Djokovic last weekend to reach the final of the Swiss Indoors in Basel, where he lost to Roger Federer.

Marcel Granollers of Spain also hadn't recovered from his victory at the Valencia Open last weekend, dropping the first set 6-3 to Chardy before retiring because of an ankle injury.

Chardy will face second-seeded Andy Murray.