PARIS -- Rafael Nadal took a while to find his rhythm Wednesday before progressing to the third round of the Paris Masters with a 7-5, 7-5 win over fellow Spaniard Marcel Granollers. It was yet another win in top-ranked Nadals resurgent run this season. Roger Federer also advanced in Paris, but was happier that his 6-4, 6-4 victory over Kevin Anderson of South Africa meant he secured a spot at the ATP Finals for the 12th straight year. "Its definitely somewhat of a highlight of the season for me after having a tough few months to still make it to the World Tour Finals," said Federer, who has had a rough season by his own high standards with losses in the second round at Wimbledon and fourth round at the U.S. Open to drop to No. 6 in the rankings. The fifth-seeded Federer took a 5-1 lead in the second set and held off a late charge from Anderson to clinch the victory when the South Africans backhand sailed wide. "Tough isnt always negative," Federer said. "I like it when its not so easy. But its true, I had to get up again after being sort of knocked down numerous times this year. I feel really good again, probably the first time ever since maybe Dubai." No. 1-seeded Nadal said he "didnt play well" against Granollers. Thats "something that can happen after two weeks without playing and after a long time without playing on this kind of surface," he explained. Nadal broke for a 6-5 lead in each set and clinched the victory when Granollers sent a forehand wide. The match stats pointed to a narrow margin of victory, with Nadal hitting 20 winners to 15 for Granollers and making 23 unforced errors compared to 22 for his opponent. "The rhythm of my legs tonight was poor," Nadal said. "Im slower than usual, and a lot of mistakes, easy mistakes." Nadal was playing at the Paris Masters for the first time since 2009. He missed the tournament for the past three years because of injuries or fatigue. "The victories in days that you are not playing well have much more value than the victories on days that you play well," he said. The U.S. Open champion is seeking a record sixth Masters title in a single season. He will next play last years runner-up, Jerzy Janowicz of Poland. Nadal unseated Novak Djokovic atop the rankings by reaching the final of the China Open in October. He now has a 30-2 record on hard courts this year. Spains David Ferrer, the reigning champion in Paris, Juan Martin del Potro, Tomas Berdych and Stanislas Wawrinka also moved into the third round. Ferrer overcame Lukas Rosol of the Czech Republic 6-0, 2-6, 6-3, Del Potro beat Marin Cilic of Croatia 6-4, 7-6 (3), and Berdych overpowered Pablo Andujar of Spain 6-2, 7-5. Cilic was playing only his second match since the end of his four-month ban for a positive doping test. Del Potro entered the Paris Masters following titles at the Swiss Indoors and Japan Open, plus a runner-up finish at the Shanghai Masters. Del Potro capitalized on a backhand error from Cilic to break for 5-4 in the opening set. The fourth-seeded Argentine then took a 6-2 lead in the tiebreaker and clinched the victory on another backhand error from Cilic. , Wawrinka defeated Feliciano Lopez of Spain 6-3, 3-6, 6-3 to stay in the race for one of the two remaining ATP Finals spots. Canadian Milos Raonic, John Isner, Nicolas Almagro, Gilles Simon, Grigor Dimitrov and Philipp Kohlschreiber also won their second-round matches. American Isner, a semifinalist here two years ago, fired 27 aces and outlasted Polish qualifier Michal Przysiezny 7-6 (3), 4-6, 6-3 to advance to a match against second-seeded Djokovic. Raonic, from Thonrhill, Ont., who still has a shot at qualifying for the ATP Finals, downed Dutch qualifier Robin Haase 6-3, 6-4. Jayson Werth Jersey . 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UNIONDALE, N.Y. -- The New York Islanders were close to ending their five-game losing streak. But Alex Ovechkin and the Washington Capitals found a win to get their second win in two days. Ovechkins overtime winner came after Nicklas Backstrom tied the game with a short-handed score with 49 seconds left in the third period to lift the Capitals to a 3-2 victory over the Islanders on Saturday. Ovechkins 21st goal at 2:07 of overtime gave Washington the victory and improved its record to 14-11-2. The Capitals also had a strong game from goaltender Braden Holtby, who made 37 saves. "We were lucky at the end and then we got it done in overtime," Washington coach Adam Oates said. "At the end of the day, you want to do the right things out there and we did." The Islanders seemed poised for their first win since Nov. 16 after Thomas Vanek gave them a 2-1 lead with just under two minutes left. Vanek scored his eighth of the season when he flipped the puck past Holtby from in close at 18:09 as linemates John Tavares and Kyle Okposo assisted. The one-goal lead appeared safe but it wasnt to be as Capitals defenceman Mike Green took an interference penalty at 18:50. The ensuing play went into the Islanders end where Backstrom took a pass from Jason Chimera, then managed to slide the puck past Islanders goaltender Anders Nilsson for his sixth of the season to knot the score at 2. "It was a great pass by Chimmer that landed on my tape," Backstrom said. "It really felt great for me because it was a tight game between two good teams. It was felt good that we came back, a great win for us." Nilsson was making his first start for the Islanders this season after Kevin Poulin had lost the previous five games. Starter Evgeni Nabokov was injured early in the Nov. 16th game against Detroit. The Islanders won that game in a shootout with Poulin in relief but they havent won since. Aaron Volpattis score at 8:58 of the middle period put Washington ahead 1-0. Tom Wilson and Martin Erat assisted on his second goal of the season. The Islanders dictated much of the pace against the Capitals. They outshot Washington 15-9 in the first period and 12-10 in the second, a day after a 5-0 home losss to Detroit.dddddddddddd Cal Clutterbucks short-handed breakaway goal at 3:59 of the third woke up the crowd at Nassau Coliseum. Clutterbuck broke in alone on Holtby and beat the goaltender to the glove side for his third of the season. Both goaltenders continued their sharp play until Vaneks goal broke the tie. The Islanders have been on a spiral since beating Boston at home on Nov. 2 to improve to 6-5-3. They are 2-10-1 since and 4-11-1 since they traded Tavares left wing Matt Moulson and two draft picks to Buffalo for Vanek on Oct. 27. Islanders coach Jack Capuano remained upbeat following the loss. "Guys worked hard tonight. I thought they were focused and this was a step in the right direction," he said. "It came down to special teams. Its just very frustrating that it had to end this way." The Islanders and Capitals play close games, as 17 of the past 25 games between them have been decided by one goal. Washington is 13-1-3 in those games. The Caps are 17-5-3 against the Islanders since the start of the 2007-08 season, including their 6-2 over New York on Nov. 5 at Verizon Center. The Islanders next host Pittsburgh on Tuesday before a five-game trip against top Western Conference teams St. Louis, Los Angeles, Anaheim, San Jose and Phoenix. For a club that reached the playoffs last season for the first time since 2007, the season is at an early crossroads. "We have to believe in one another and stick with it," Capuano said. Calvin de Haan made his season debut for the Islanders. The 22-year-old defenceman was recalled from AHL Bridgeport on Thanksgiving. A first round pick -- 12th overall -- in 2009, he previously had played only one game for the Islanders in December 2011. Notes: The Capitals recalled goaltender Philipp Grubauer from AHL Hershey to replace backup Michal Neuvirth, who stepped on puck during warmup on Friday and missed his scheduled start. ... Washington also recalled defenceman Dmitry Orlov from Hershey, sending down centre Michael Latta. ... The Capitals were without defencemen John Erskine (knee) and Jack Hillen (fractured tibia). ... The Islanders continued to be without defencemen Lubomir Visnovsky (concussion) and Brian Strait (upper body). ' ' '