Novak Djokovic pocketed a $1.6-
million bonus just for turning up on
court before making light of
shoulder pains to beat Croatian Ivan
Dodig 6-4 6-3 in the Paris Masters
second round on Wednesday.
An ATP rule designed to entice top
players to take part in the main
events states that, as world number
one, Djokovic is entitled to a $2-
million bonus if he plays in all eight
Masters tournaments.
The bonus drops to $1.6 million if
he misses one -- and to nothing if
he misses two.
Having skipped the Shanghai
Masters through injury, the Serbian
suffered a recurrence of a shoulder
problem in his semi-final defeat in
Basel by Japan's Kei Nishikori last
week.
Djokovic, who said he spent his
time between Basel and Paris
recovering from the injury,
dismissed talk that he had turned up
in Paris just to cash in the cheque.
"It was really somehow funny for
me to see how people are coming
up with that story...I even heard
that I would get on the court and
play a game just to get this money.
This is ridiculous, " he told a news
conference.
"I need more matches before (the
ATP World Tour finals in) London. I
think it's obvious that I'm still not (at
the) top of my game. But I'm taking
things quite slowly knowing that the
form will improve each day that I
play.
"I believe in that. I have been
working quite hard in the last couple
of weeks after my injury, and I think
things are going in the right
direction."
STRONG SERVE
Djokovic, who has won three grand
slams and five Masters titles this
year, struggled at times against
world number 39 Dodig, but served
strongly throughout and took his
chances when it mattered to book
his place in the third round.
A break in the 10th game was
enough to take the lead and another
in the sixth game of the second
helped him wrap it up.
Swiss Roger Federer, seeded three,
barely broke sweat in a 6-2 6-3
dismissal of French wildcard Adrian
Mannarino to reach the third round
where he will face local favourite
Richard Gasquet on Thursday.
Second seed Andy Murray started
his campaign in ruthless fashion,
beating France's Jeremy Chardy 6-2
6-4 to reach the third round.
World number three Murray, who
withdrew from the Basel
tournament because of injury, had
little difficulty with Chardy, setting
up a meeting with 13th seed Andy
Roddick in the next round.
Briton Murray completed a stunning
hat-trick of titles in as many weeks
on the Asian swing of the ATP tour
after winning the Shanghai Masters
on October 16. He also won in
Bangkok and Tokyo.
"I take a few weeks off and the first
match is always a tough one, even
if you've been winning a lot of
matches," Murray told reporters.
"But always after taking a break
things feel a little bit different.
Hopefully I can build on today's win.
Maybe if I get through a couple of
rounds, I'll feel that momentum."
Serbian Janko Tipsarevic kept alive
his slim hopes of reaching the ATP
World Tour finals when the 11th
seed thrashed American Alex
Bogomolov Jr. 6-1 6-0 to reach the
third round.
Spaniard Nicolas Almagro,
however, was ruled out of the
London event when he lost 6-3 7-5
to Italian Andreas Seppi.
Djokovic, Rafa Nadal, Murray,
Federer and David Ferrer have
qualified and four players are now
vying for the three remaining spots
after Mardy Fish's 6-1 6-2 win over
German Florian Mayer ruled out Gael
Monfils, who later lost to Feliciano
Lopez 6-3 6-4.
American Fish, the seventh seed, is
now only one win away from
securing his London spot.
Frenchman Gilles Simon's chances
also vanished into thin air when the
10th seed suffered a 6-3 6-0
drubbing by Argentine Juan Monaco
in which he was booed by the
crowd in the last game.