Tsonga, Tipsarevic book O2 places with wins in Paris

Tsonga booked his spot at the O2 event with a 7-6(4) 7-6(3) win over Nicolas Almagro, ending the Spaniard's own hopes of reaching next week's tournament in the process.

"It's really important for me to have qualified. With the big four at the moment, it's not easy to get rewards in tennis, so for me this is one of my rewards. It feels good to be a part of it," Tsonga told the ATP Tour website.

"I have some great memories from last year where I played the final against Roger (Federer). It was huge for me, one of the big moments of my career."

Tipsarevic downed Argentina's Juan Monaco - another contender for the Finals - in a fiercely contested 6-3 3-6 6-3 win, and with the only other remaining London hopeful Milos Raonic also losing, 6-3 7-6(1) to Sam Querrey, the Serbian joined Tsonga in completing the line-up for the end-of-season showpiece. Novak Djokovic, Federer, Andy Murray, David Ferrer, Tomas Berdych and Juan Martin del Potro had already qualified.

“The World Tour Finals last year was one of my best experiences ever on the tennis court,” said Tipsarevic. “I was always dreaming of playing the world tour finals and I’m excited to be back there.”

Tsonga goes on to meet fourth seed Ferrer - the highest-ranked player left in the tournament after the shock demises of Murray and Djokovic - in the Paris quarters following the Spaniard's drawn-out 6-2 4-6 6-2 win over Stanislas Wawrinka.

Tipsarevic will play world number 69 Jerzy Janowicz in the last eight at Bercy after the Pole stunned Murray earlier in the day. The world number three's shock defeat means that for the first time since the 2010 Paris Masters was won by Swede Robin Soderling, a Masters title will be claimed by a player outside of the Big Four.

Querrey's victory over Raonic set up a clash with Michael Llodra, who continued the string of upsets at the Parisian event with a shock 6-4 6-3 win over Del Potro.

The veteran French serve-volleyer, now the world number 84, rolled back the years with a fantastic display of guided, angled deliveries and agile net-play as he broke the Argentine seventh seed once in each set to move into the quarter-finals in just over an hour.

Llodra, 32, had not won a match on the main tour all season but his class – and a partisan home crowd – proved too much for Del Potro, who had won his previous two tournaments.

Berdych came from a set down to beat Kevin Anderson 1-6 6-3 6-4 in their third round match, the first of the day in Paris.

The Czech world number six, a winner in the French capital seven years ago, was outplayed in the first set but found his service game to break once in each of the next two and set up a quarter-final clash with Gilles Simon after the Frenchman's opponent Kei Nishikori pulled out of their match with an ankle injury.

Berdych was slow out of the blocks and the 6’8” South African exploited him with his usual display of ruthless serving.

It looked like he might claim a bagel, breaking twice and holding with relative ease until Berdych finally pulled himself together.

A turning point came at 4-3 in the second when Berdych felt aggrieved that he was denied a break point by a rogue line call and a poor decision from the umpire to replay the point. After a lengthy argument, Berdych channelled his aggression to break anyway with a fantastic curling winner off the line.

The momentum had shifted but the decider was still a tight affair as Anderson showed he is not just a serve-volleyer, moving surprisingly well but unable to break the determined Berdych.

And, at 3-3 in the third set, Berdych sent another thundering winner down the line to claim a match-deciding break that he defended with relative ease.

World number 16 Nishikori was set to face France’s 20th-ranked Simon, but the Japanese star suffered a recurrence of a problem with his right ankle and he withdrew just before their encounter.

Nishikori had pulled out of Basel with the problem but was able to beat Benoit Paire in the second round.

4-David Ferrer (Spain) beat 16-Stanislas Wawrinka (Switzerland) 6-2 4-6 6-2

6-Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (France) beat 11-Nicolas Almagro (Spain) 7-6(4) 7-6(3)

Sam Querrey (U.S.) beat 14-Milos Raonic (Canada) 6-3 7-6(1)

8-Janko Tipsarevic (Serbia) beat 9-Juan Monaco (Argentina) 6-3 3-6 6-3

Michael Llodra (France) beat 7-Juan Martin Del Potro (Argentina) 6-4 6-3

Jerzy Janowicz (Poland) beat 3-Andy Murray (Britain) 5-7 7-6(4) 6-2

Gilles Simon (France) beat 15-Kei Nishikori (Japan)WO

5-Tomas Berdych (Czech Republic) beat Kevin Anderson (South Africa) 1-6 6-3 6-4