When they decided to remove the week between Paris and London, you knew that odds were that the top 8 players would not be completely motivated to win Paris, especially, the top 4.  Of course, Nadal has already decided to take the rest of the year off to recover, so he was a no-show regardless.  Federer used his one exemption and said adios to Paris.

Once Federer withdrew, Djokovic probably did not feel the need to win his match.  He wanted to do enough to get a few hits in and show that he wasn’t tanking.  Maybe he would have liked to win a match, and then lose in the following round, but whatever.  He dominated a first set against Querrey, then was up a break, then Querrey came back, forced a tiebreak, got a break, and completed the upset.

Murray already won his opening round match, but essentially followed the same playbook.  Murray’s opponent is indicative of the trend to taller players.  Once upon a time, a player like Jerzy Janowicz might be eyeing basketball as his way to fame, or perhaps volleyball.  But a 6’8″ player is now not uncommon.  Isner, Anderson, and Karlovic hover around that height, and play the modern game from the backcourt.  Some even call Janowicz the Polish Isner.

Normally, Murray plays very well against tall players.  He has a great record against Isner, Karlovic, and other big servers, but keep in mind that next week is London, and Murray would like to win one on home soil, so his desire to win this match may not be that high.

In a match that resembled the ebbs and flows of the Djokovic loss, Murray won a close first set, was up a break in the second set, showing he could have won the second set, then got broken, and lost in a tiebreak.  He then went down two breaks in the third and out he goes.

Were this the Olympics, Murray wins this match.  But it’s not, so Murray performs as well as needed, and now it’s off to London.

One guy who does still care is Tomas Berdych.  He would have to have things go right in London for him to take the title, so at this point, he might as well accumulate points while he can.  He played Kevin Anderson, but despite getting thumped in the first set, came back to break once in each of the next two sets and take the match from a guy who has been playing pretty well as of late.  Announcers said that Anderson can use this as a launching pad into 2013.

Tipsarevic, on the other hand, still has some motivation.  He’s 9th in the race to London, but with Nadal out, he’s the odds-on favorite.  But with Federer, Djokovic, and  Murray out, there’s a chance someone could claim the 1000 points and leapfrog the Serb, so he has to play like it matters and go as deep as he can.  Already, several players behind him have lost, but Raonic, could, for example, with a victory, leap ahead of Tipsarevic.  However, he has his hands full because Juan Monaco is also a top-tenner, so it’s a battle of nearly equals.  The two have split sets.  (EDIT: Tipsarevic won the third set).

del Potro has lost the first set to Llodra who also has nothing to lose.  For him, winning Paris would be a great accomplishment.  He’s not exactly young anymore, and this is a title in his home country.