Tomas Berdych kept alive his hopes of qualifying for the ATP World Tour Finals with a tight win over Joao Sousa at the BNP Paribas Masters in Paris.
The Czech slipped below Marin Cilic in the race to London after the Croatian won last week's Swiss Indoors title in Basle.
That left Berdych, who has qualified for the O2 every year since 2010, needing a strong week in the French capital to make the top eight.
The 31-year-old has struggled with appendicitis since the summer and missed the US Open but opted not to have surgery.
However, his form has suffered, and Berdych went into his second-round clash with Portugal's Sousa on a three-match losing streak.
It looked like that might well become four when Sousa had two break points at 4-4 in the deciding set but Berdych eventually came through 6-3 3-6 7-5.
American John Isner won his first-round match with in-form Mischa Zverev 7-6 (10/8) 6-4 while there were also victories for Nicolas Mahut and Viktor Troicki.
Source: PA
