Djokovic eases past Sousa

Paris, October 31 

Novak Djokovic’s pursuit of the season-ending world number one spot continued with a 7-5 6-1 victory over Portuguese qualifier Joao Sousa in the second round of the Paris Masters on Tuesday.

World number two Djokovic, who received a first-round bye, broke his opponent’s serve four times to extend his winning run to 19 matches.

The 31-year-old Serb has returned to his brutal best this season with Grand Slam wins at Wimbledon and the US Open, along with ATP Masters triumphs in Cincinnati and Shanghai.

Canada’s Milos Raonic came from a set down to reach the second round with a hard-fought 6-7(4) 7-6(5) 7-6(5) win over local favourite Jo-Wilfried Tsonga. Raonic will next face Roger Federer, who is chasing his 100th career title after winning the Swiss Indoors last week.

Daria, Julia ousted by underdogs

Zhuhai: Top seed Daria Kasatkina and defending champion Julia Goerges both lost to lower-ranked opponents on an afternoon for underdogs at the WTA Elite Trophy in China on Wednesday.

Kasatkina, 21, was beaten with relative ease by 23-year-old Madison Keys, who took 70 minutes to win 6-2 6-4. The Russian, who finished her previous match against Wang Qiang at 10pm on Tuesday

Goerges was beaten by Anett Kontaveit. The fifth seed took a nasty tumble mid-way through the match, which she went on to lose 2-6 6-4 4-6. — Agencies