Novak Djokovic beat Ivan Dodig in the second round of the Paris Masters, in the process securing himself a $1.6 million windfall.
Serb sees off Dodig in Paris, ensures his Masters Series bonus money
World number one Novak Djokovic ensured he will pocket a $1.6 million bonus by defying a shoulder injury to beat Ivan Dodig in straight sets in the second round of the Paris Masters.
The Serb stood to lose the windfall if he withdrew from the ninth and final Masters Series event of the year.
Djokovic, who has compiled a 68-4 win-loss record and three major titles during 2011, sustained a recurrence of his shoulder injury during his semi-final defeat to Kei Nishikori in Basel last week.
He had returned in Basel after being forced to miss the Shanghai Masters by the problem - and could not miss any more of the Masters Series events if he wanted to collect his bonus money.
Funny
It was no surprise, therefore, when Djokovic took his place on court at the Palais Omnisports as scheduled on Wednesday for his second-round clash with world number 39 Dodig.
And a solitary break in each set was enough for the top seed to claim a 6-4 6-3 success and a place in the last 16, where he will take on fellow Serb Viktor Troicki, who was a 6-4 6-4 victor over Sergiy Stakhovsky of Ukraine.
Djokovic denied money was the motivation for his presence in Paris, saying: "It was really somehow funny for me to see how people are coming up with that story... I even heard that I would get on the court and play a game just to get this money. This is ridiculous.
"I need more matches before (the ATP World Tour finals in) London. I think it's obvious that I'm still not (at the) top of my game. But I'm taking things quite slowly knowing that the form will improve each day that I play.
"I believe in that. I have been working quite hard in the last couple of weeks after my injury, and I think things are going in the right direction."
Third seed Roger Federer, fresh from his winning his second title of the year at his home-town Basel event, also eased into the third round with a 6-2 6-3 triumph over Frenchman Adrian Mannarino.
Tip top
Meanwhile, another of Djokovic's countrymen, Janko Tipsarevic, kept alive his slim hopes of making it to the ATP World Tour finals by thrashing American Alex Bogomolov Jr 6-1 6-0 in his second-round match.
Tipsarevic, who needs to win the title if he is to grab one of the three remaining spots for the November 20-27 event at the O2 in London, will next face Czech Tomas Berdych.
Mardy Fish, seeded seven, closed to within one win of booking his spot at the Finals as he climed a comfortable 6-1 6-2 victory over Florian Mayer.
But home favourite Gael Monfils and Spain's Nicolas Almagro both saw their hopes of reaching London end as they were defeated by Feliciano Lopez and Andreas Seppi respectively.
Fourth seed David Ferrer enjoyed a safe passage into the last 16 with a 6-4 6-4 victory over Frenchman Nicolas Mahut, as did 14th seed Alexander Dolgopolov thanks to a straight-sets wins over Germany's Philipp Kohlschreiber and unseeded American John Isner, who saw off Russia's Igor Kunitsyn 6-4 6-4.
