Tomas Berdych has recorded a three-set victory over Joao Sousa at the Paris Masters to stay in the hunt for a place at the ATP Tour Finals.
The Czech player needs to reach at least the semi-finals to have a chance of making the end-of-season event in London and he managed to hold his nerve on Tuesday to edge past Sousa.
Berdych had not dropped a set to the Portuguese in their previous two meetings but his opponent hit back from losing the opener to take the contest into a decider.
It appeared that a tie-break would occur to decide who would progress through to the last 16 but Berdych was able to break in Sousa's final service game to secure a 6-3 3-6 7-5 win.
Berdych will now face either Gilles Simon or Roberto Bautista Agut.
