Tomas Berdych keeps London hopes alive with win at Paris Masters

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.