Nadal downs Janowicz, Djokovic overcomes Isner

Rafael Nadal gets past Jerzy Janowicz in straight sets on Thursday in Paris. Novak Djokovic joins Nadal in the quarterfinals by coming back from a set down against John Isner.

(1) Rafael Nadal d. (14) Jerzy Janowicz  7-5, 6-4

Nadal ensured that the BNP Paribas Masters quarterfinals would feature all eight of the World Tour Finals participants when he won Thursday’s nightcap over Janowicz in one hour and 43 minutes. The No. 1 seed double-faulted four times and struggled to serve out the match at 5-4 in the third, but he had enough to finish the job in straight sets and improve to 2-0 lifetime against Janowicz.

Both players held en route to 5-5 in the opening set, at which point Nadal finally earned a scalp of his opponent’s serve before closing it out one game later. The Spaniard broke much earlier in the second, right away in fact. This time Janowicz responded immediately, but he could not recover from another donation of serve at 2-2. The 14th-ranked Pole saw three break chances in the final game, but he could not convert and Nadal capitalized on his third match point. Next up for Nadal is Richard Gasquet, a straight-set winner over Kei Nishikori.

[polldaddy poll=7524732]

(2) Novak Djokovic d. John Isner 6-7(3), 6-1, 6-2

Djokovic avenged a Cincinnati loss to Isner by battling back from an early deficit to prevail in one hour and 50 minutes. The second-ranked Serb did not face a break point the entire way, but he surrendered the first set in a tiebreaker. Nonetheless, it was all Djokovic from there as he started to get a read on the Isner serve.

“When I was set down I was frustrated, but I tried to hold my composure,” explained Djokovic, who will face familiar foe Stanislas Wawrinka on Friday. “It’s not the first time I’m in this particular situation, so that experience helped to keep on me believing I could win. I knew as soon as I make a break I was going to start playing better and relax. That’s what happened.”

[polldaddy poll=7524737]