PARIS — Kei Nishikori posted his 300th win on tour Wednesday, reaching the third round of the Paris Masters by beating Viktor Troicki 6-2, 7-5.
The fifth-seeded Nishikori, who made it to the semifinals at the indoor tournament two years ago, will next face Jo-Wilfred Tsonga.
Tsonga cruised past Albert Ramos-Vinolas 6-3, 6-4.
"I think it's a great number," Nishikori said. "This year has been pretty good."
David Goffin kept alive his slim chances of joining Nishikori at the elite tournament by defeating Nicolas Mahut 7-6 (5), 6-3, but he must win the title in Paris to clinch one of the remaining two spots at the season-ending event.
Among those who can still qualify is Marin Cilic, who set up a third-round match with Goffin with a 7-6 (7), 6-2 win over Ivo Karlovic. Goffin has a 3-0 record over Cilic.
"I'm really excited and satisfied with my form, especially these past few months," Cilic said. "It's a battle now between me, him, (Tomas) Berdych and Tsonga. I'm just hoping to continue with my good tennis and find a good way to play him this time."
Also, 13th-seeded Lucas Pouille rallied past Feliciano Lopez 6-7 (1), 6-3, 6-4 to reach the third round while Jack Sock beat sixth-seeded Dominic Thiem 6-2, 6-4.
Berdych kept alive his hopes of reaching the end-of-season Tour Finals with a gritty 6-3, 3-6, 7-5 victory over Portugal’s Joao Sousa Tuesday.
Fourth seed Milos Raonic is one of six players guaranteed their place in the eight-man field in the British capital, and the Canadian brushed aside Pablo Carreno Busta 7-6 (7/5), 6-4.
Richard Gasquet saved seven set points in the second set to see off Steve Johnson 6-4, 7-6 (13/11).
Konta dominates
Britain's Johanna Konta will finish the year inside the world top 10 for the first time after cruising to victory over Sam Stosur on day two of the WTA Elite Trophy in China Wednesday.
The top seed, 25, defeated the former US Open winner 6-4, 6-2 in Zhuhai in her first time back on court since withdrawing from the Hong Kong Open with an abdominal injury last month.
"Against a player like Sam, who plays such a big ball and has such a big game, I really had to do my best to stay there for every single point and take my chances whenever they came," Konta said after the decisive win in the $2.2 million round-robin tournament.
In the day's other matches, world number 18 Timea Bacsinszky came back from a loss to China's Zhang Shuai to dominate Hungary's Timea Babos 6-4, 6-2.
In the day's last matchup, Czech Petra Kvitova defeated Roberta Vinci of Italy, 6-1, 6-2. — Agencies
