Defending champion Tomas Berdych, with an outside chance to qualify for the Masters Cup, rallied past Belgium's Olivier Rochus 6-7 (4), 6-4, 6-2 Wednesday to reach the third round of the Paris Masters.

The eighth-seeded Berdych is seeking his first title of the year and next plays American Robby Ginepri.

``It was a very tough match,'' he said. ``I already lost twice to Olivier. I'm happy I made it.''

Berdych, a Czech ranked No. 13 in the world, is a longshot for the season-ending Masters Cup in China. Five of the eight places for the Shanghai tournament are filled.

``There is still a long way to go for Shanghai,'' Berdych said. ``I think it's only if I win here and a couple of guys need to lose early.''

Also in the second round, 2001 winner Sebastien Grosjean of France lost to sixth-seeded Tommy Robredo of Spain 3-6, 7-5, 6-4.

``Grosjean was just playing so good,'' Robredo said. ``I was not, so I just relaxed and started hitting winners. I was totally lost at the start.''

Serving for the match at 5-2 and 5-4 up, Grosjean lost three straight service games at the end of the second set.

Seventh-seeded American James Blake beat Arnaud Clement of France 6-4, 3-6, 6-4 to set up a meeting with 10th-seeded Tommy Haas. The German beat Michael Llodra 7-6 (7), 7-6 (2). Blake, who has won five titles this year, improved to 5-0 against Clement.

Blake hit aces on the final two points in the sixth and eighth games. He came back from 0-40 down when serving for the match, closing the match with two straight service winners. He won when Clement's return landed out, and let out a roar of triumph as he clenched both fists.

``I'm really proud of the way it turned out,'' Blake said. ``A few years ago, I would have got down on myself being 2-0 and 30-0 down. I kept fighting for every point. It's amazing how many games you can turn around with a positive attitude.''

Ninth-seeded Mario Ancic of Croatia struggled to beat Kristof Vliegen of Belgium 3-6, 7-6 (4), 6-3; and 17th-seeded Dominik Hrbaty of Slovakia downed Igor Andreev of Russia 6-4, 6-3.

Jarkko Nieminen of Finland and Teimuraz Gabashvili of Russia also advanced, but 12th-seeded Novak Djokovic of Serbia was upset by Paul-Henri Mathieu of France.

``I didn't play my best match today,'' said Mathieu, who won 7-6 (11), 7-6 (4). ``So to beat a very, very good player like him is good for my confidence.''

Nieminen beat Daniele Bracciali of Italy 6-3, 6-4, and Gabashvili defeated Thomas Johansson of Sweden 7-6 (3), 4-6, 6-3.

© The Canadian Press, 2007