PARIS — Novak Djokovic rallied from a set down Thursday to beat John Isner 6-7 (5), 6-1, 6-2 and reach the quarterfinals of the Paris Masters. Isner saved six break points to force the early tiebreaker and took the first set when Djokovic's backhand sailed wide. The second-seeded Serb raised his game in the second set, making only two unforced errors and breaking Isner twice. “I just needed to be very tough mentally and just believe I can make a break,” Djokovic said. “I knew as soon as I make a break I'm going to start playing better and relaxed in a way, so that's what happened.” Djokovic then won the last five games of the match, finishing off the American with a backhand volley. Djokovic stretched his winning streak to 14 matches after taking the China Open and the Shanghai Masters titles in October. The Australian Open champion next plays Stanislas Wawrinka, who stayed in contention for one of the two remaining ATP Finals spots by defeating Nicolas Almagro of Spain 6-3, 6-2. The seventh-seeded Swiss rallied from a 3-1 deficit in the first set and broke Almagro twice in the second. Roger Federer also moved into the quarterfinals by dismissing Philipp Kohlschreiber of Germany 6-3, 6-4. The fifth-seeded Swiss saved three break points and broke once in each set, improving his record against Kohlschreiber to 8-0. Federer, who won the Paris Masters in 2011, next faces Juan Martin del Potro in a rematch of last weekend's Swiss Indoors final. The fourth-seeded Argentine overcame Grigor Dimitrov of Bulgaria 3-6, 6-3, 6-4. Del Potro broke for a 5-4 lead in the deciding set before hitting a forehand winner on match point. Defending champion David Ferrer also advanced, beating Gilles Simon of France 6-2, 6-3. On Wednesday, Federer booked his place in the ATP World Tour Finals for a record-tying 12th consecutive year when he dismissed South African Kevin Anderson 6-4, 6-4 to reach the third round. Top seed Rafa Nadal progressed to the third round in the French capital with a 7-5, 7-5 triumph over fellow Spaniard Marcel Granollers. — Agencies
