PARIS, 3 November 2005 — Argentine Gaston Gaudio made a winning start to his Paris Masters campaign when he beat local favorite Fabrice Santoro 6-4, 7-5 in a second-round match yesterday.

Seventh seed Gaudio, who has fond memories of Paris having won the French Open last year, showed more composure when it mattered to move past wildcard Santoro and stay on course for a Masters Cup slot.

Gaudio, who has won five tournaments this year and had a bye past the first round, is one of several players fighting in the French capital for the remaining two tickets to the eight-strong season finale from Nov. 13 in Shanghai.

The Argentine with the trademark baseball cap goes on to meet American Robby Ginepri, the 12th seed, who was made to work by Spaniard Fernando Verdasco before prevailing 6-3, 6-7, 6-3.

Swede Thomas Johansson had earlier kept alive his own Masters Cup hopes by crushing Belgian qualifier Kristof Vliegen 6-3, 6-2.

The former Australian Open champion, seeded ninth, will be tested in the next round when he faces sixth-seeded Croatian Ivan Ljubicic, one of the strong players of the indoor season and also a candidate for a Masters Cup berth.

The other seeds involved in early action yesterday all advanced to the third round, starting with Slovakia’s Dominik Hrbaty, seeded 16th, who beat French lucky loser Jean-Rene Lisnard 6-3, 6-3.

Spain’s Tommy Robredo, seeded 14th, also booked a place in the last 16 with a 7-5, 6-2 victory over French wildcard Arnaud Clement.

Davenport, Sharapova Withdraw From Advanta Championships

In Villanova, Pennsylvania, top-seed Lindsay Davenport and Maria Sharapova withdrew Tuesday from the Advanta Championships.

Davenport has the flu and Sharapova has a sprained right thumb, tournament officials said.

Defending champion Amelie Mauresmo is now the top seed in the tournament. She will face Ai Sugiyama in her first match today.

Davenport, ranked No. 1 by the WTA Tour, and Sharapova, ranked third, are the latest stars to pull out of the Advanta Championships. Serena and Venus Williams and Patty Schnyder withdrew last weekend.

The Williams sisters are bothered by knee injuries, while Schnyder has an injured left hand.

Meanwhile, 16-year old Nicole Vaidisova of the Czech Republic continued her recent dominance with a 6-1, 6-1 victory over qualifier Vanessa Henke of Germany in the first round. Vaidisova, who has won her last three tournaments and is ranked 19th in the most recent tour rankings, needed just 54 minutes to pick up her 16th straight victory.

In other matches, Bulgarian Sesil Karatantcheva upset ninth-seeded Vera Zvonareva of Russia in straight sets 7-5, 6-3; Ai Sugiyama of Japan defeated Iveta Benesova of the Czech Republic 7-5, 6-4; Martina Sucha of Slovakia hung on to beat Stephanie Foretz of France 6-1, 5-7, 6-1; and American Lisa Raymond beat Samantha Stosur of Australia 7-6 (6), 4-6, 6-1.

Karatantcheva, the youngest player in the top 100 at 16, is at a career-high ranking of 36 and rising after winning her first match with the Russian.

Arvidsson Advances to 2nd Round

In Quebec City, eighth-seeded Sofia Arvidsson advanced to second round of the Bell Challenge, beating Puerto Rican qualifier Vilmarie Castellvi 6-2, 7-5 on Tuesday.

Germany’s Julia Schruff, seeded ninth, also advanced with a 7-5, 6-3 win over American Abigail Spears.

In other matches, American Shenay Perry beat Lubomira Kurhajcova 6-2, 4-6, 7-5, and French qualifier Youlia Fedossova defeated Puerto Rico’s Kristina Brandi 6-4, 6-4. Argentina’s Maria Emilia Salerni beat American Diana Ospina 7-6 (9), 1-6, 6-3.