UPDATE 3-Tennis-Davydenko, Verdasco boost London chances

* Davydenko, Verdasco survive Paris Masters second round

* Pair boost chances to make season-ending World Tour finals

* Tsonga starts title defence with win over Montanes (Updates after Simon win)

By Patrick Vignal

PARIS, Nov 10 (Reuters) - Russia's Nikolay Davydenko and Spain's Fernando Verdasco moved closer to spots at the World Tour Finals in London with contrasting second-round wins at the Paris Masters on Tuesday.

World number seven Davydenko, who would make sure of entering the Nov. 22-29 season finale with a semi-final appearance here, brushed aside German Benjamin Becker 6-2 6-1.

Verdasco, the world number eight, who will a book a trip to London if he wins the title but could qualify earlier depending on how other contenders fare, needed over two hours to move past Italian Andreas Seppi 6-7 6-4 6-4.

The Spaniard's win meant Czech Radek Stepanek and Croatia's Marin Cilic dropped out of the race, leaving just five players fighting for the two remaining tickets to the London event featuring the world's top eight players, with Davydenko and Verdasco first in line.

The other three are Swede Robin Soderling, Chilean Fernando Gonzalez and France's Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, the defending champion in Paris.