Tennis-Wawrinka reaches Paris Masters third round

By Julien Pretot PARIS, Nov 3 (Reuters) - Stan Wawrinka started his Paris Masters challenge with a 6-3 7-6(6) win over Australian Bernard Tomic after surviving a blip in the tiebreak to reach the third round on Tuesday. The world number four from Switzerland trailed 5-2 in the tiebreak but raised his game to close out the match in straight sets at a renovated Bercy Hall. "I was not in a good position, that's for sure," Wawrinka, who is bidding to become the first player to win the French Open and the Paris Masters in the same year since Andre Agassi in 1999, told a news conference. "I played one good point, aggressive, then he missed an easy forehand, and you're back." Wawrinka next faces either Spanish 15th seed Feliciano Lopez or Serbian Viktor Troicki. Spanish eighth seed David Ferrer also advanced to the third round when he swept aside Alexandr Dolgopolov of Ukraine 6-2 6-2. Defending champion Novak Djokovic of Serbia starts his bid for an unprecedented third title in a row with a second-round match against Thomaz Bellucci of Brazil later on Tuesday. The Paris Masters is the last tournament before the season-ending ATP World Tour finals, which will be played between the eight best players of the season from Nov. 15-22 at the O2 in London. Djokovic, Wawrinka, Roger Federer, Rafa Nadal, Kei Nishikori, Andy Murray, Tomas Berdych and Ferrer have all qualified. (Editing by Ed Osmond)