Rafael Nadal has Number 1 Roger Federer's crown in his sights

Verdasco was left having to sweat it out while keeping an eye on the progress of the three other potential finalists — Soderling, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, who reached the last eight here with a 6-2, 6-3 win over French compatriot Gilles Simon, and Chile's Fernando Gonzalez.

Gonzalez though saw his hopes dashed in the final match of the day when he let slip seven match points in the second set to US Open champion Juan Martin del Potro of Argentina before abandoning at one set all 6-7 (6/8), 7-6 (8/6).

Soderling, who reached the French Open final the last time he was in Paris in June, will still have to at least reach the final at Bercy to have any chance of making it through to London.

Next up for him, with a place in the semi-finals at stake, will be third seed Novak Djokovic, who cruised past French qualifier Arnaud Clement 6-2, 6-2 in 75 minutes.

The 2008 Australian Open champion from Serbia, last year's Tour Finals winner, is seeking to lift back-to-back titles following his win in Basel last week where he beat Roger Federer in the final.

He is also eager to win his first Masters Series title of the year having lost in four finals.

"Robin has a chance to qualify for the Masters Cup so he will give his best in the quarter-finals," Djokovic said.

"He is a big server and is having the best year of his career. I played him recently in Beijing and won so, hopefully, I can do the same here."

Title-holder Tsonga, who needs to defend his title to qualify for London, said after his win over Simon that he refused to let himself become obsessed with qualifying for the season's finale.

"I'm not here for the Masters. I'm here for Bercy," the French No.1 said.

"I will only be qualified if I win this tournament, so I'm not thinking about London.

Benneteau, who said his win over the world No.1 Federer was the best moment of his career, failed to carry his form into Thursday losing 6-4, 6-3 to compatriot Gael Monfils.

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