With Paris being the last event before the year-end championship, the mystery of the final eight players to qualify for London would be resolved.  Six players had an outside shot of leapfrogging the favorites.  These were Almagro, Tipsarevic, Simon, Monfils, and technically, del Potro and Soderling.

There were five that had qualified long before Paris: Djokovic, Nadal, Murray, Federer, and Ferrer.  That left three on the bubble: Tsonga, Fish, and Berdych.  The odds were in their favor that they would get in.  Some, like Monfils, would have to win Paris and hope Fish lost early.  Others, like Almagro, would get in if they won Paris–a long shot with Djokovic, Murray, and Federer in the draw, and an even longer shot given how poorly Almagro plays on clay.

del Potro’s chances were eliminated once he decided to skip Paris due to an injury.

It’s impressive that Soderling still had a shot despite not playing since Bastad, the week after Wimbledon.  Soderling had four titles, many at the start of the year, and still could have qualified by defending his Paris title (with a little help).  But a wrist injury followed by mono has kept Soderling out for the last half of the year.

Tomas Berdych, in particular, was thrilled.  He set two goals for himself: qualify (again) for London and win 50 matches.  He did both on the same match, and beat a player in Janko Tipsarevic, that has given Berdych a lot of trouble in the past.  Specifically, Berdych has lost 4 straight times to Tipsarevic including twice this year (they’ve been on the tour so long that they met back in 2004, which Tipsy also won).  Berdych was again in trouble to Tipsarevic, down 5-2 in the first set before reeling off 5 games in a row to take the set, then taking the second set, 6-4.

Berdych will have his hands full with Andy Murray who may be playing the best tennis of anyone in Paris.  Berdych actually leads the head-to-head 2-1, although two of the matches were played 5 years ago or more.  The recent encounter was in the 2010 French Open where Berdych had an easy win en route to a semfinal finish.

Tsonga also qualified for London with today’s win over Seppi.  With Gasquet losing to Federer, Tsonga becomes the last Frenchman in the tournament.  He faces top seed Novak Djokovic.  Tsonga has a pretty good record against Djokovic and leads their head-to-head.  However, Djokovic tends to play Tsonga well in Slams.  Djokovic had issues with errors today, but managed the win.  This could be the most intriguing match of the quarterfinals showing what kind of form Djokovic is in.  Djokovic has said he is still struggling with his rhythm, but as good players often do, they win not playing their best.

Mardy Fish also qualified, but mostly because the rest of the potential threats to leapfrog him lost.  In particular, Tipsarevic lost today, Almagro had already lost, as had Simon and Monfils.  With these four players out, Fish’s loss to Monaco wasn’t as problematic (and likely wouldn’t have been anyway).  Fish tweaked a hamstring, an issue that’s been bothering him since Basel.  He hopes that it will be in good enough shape to play well in London, though he plans to play anyway, regardless.  This may be the only time Fish gets to play in London, so he is eager to play.  He only regrets that he’s hurt which might hamper his ability to play well.

The World Tour Finals will be played a week after the end of the Paris event, giving players a week to rest and prepare.