Davydenko, Verdasco not far from season-ending ATP Finals

With just two spaces left to be filled at the season-ending ATP Finals in London next month, there's a lot to play for at this week's BNP Paribas Masters, especially for the two players currently seventh and eighth in the rankings, Nikolay Davydenko of Russia and Spain's Fernando Verdasco.

Nikolay Davydenko, of Russia, returns the ball to Benjamin Becker, of Germany, during BNP Masters indoor tennis tournament in Paris, Tuesday, Nov. 10, 2009.(AP Photo/Michel Euler)

Both were in action in the early session on day two of competition, Davydenko was up first, his opponent the unseeded German, Benjamin Becker.

Davydenko, who won this tournament back in 2006, wasted little time in dismantling Becker's game and spent just 78 minutes on court, hardly breaking a sweat in securing a 6-2, 6-1 victory.

That sets up a meeting with either Croatia's Ivo Karlovic or the number nine seed Robin Soderling of Sweden, one of Davydenko's rivals for a spot in London.