Novak Djokovic recovered from a slow start as he continued his bid to retain the world No. 1 ranking with a 4-6, 6-2, 6-3 win over 14th-seeded Bulgarian Grigor Dimitrov in the BNP Paribas Masters third round on Thursday.
The Serbian, needing to reach the final to stay ahead of Andy Murray at the top of the rankings, set up a quarter-final clash with Croatia’s Marin Cilic, who clinched one of the two remaining spots for the ATP World Tour Finals with a 6-3, 7-6 (11/9) victory over Belgium’s David Goffin.
“[Cilic] is in great form. He has a big serve that he relies on a lot. He’s a big guy, but he uses the court very well,” Djokovic told a news conference.
Photo: AFP
“He’s quite aggressive. Every short ball he’s stepping in. He plays quite flat. He loves, I guess, these kind of very quick conditions,” he added.
Murray advanced in much easier fashion by demolishing France’s Lucas Pouille 6-3, 6-0.
The Scot next plays Czech seventh seed Tomas Berdych, who ousted Frenchman Gilles Simon 6-4, 6-3.
“I thought I returned well today. I had chances in almost all of his service games throughout the match,” Murray said.
“On this surface, when it’s a bit quicker, that’s good. If you can get a lot of returns back in play, it puts pressure on the server,” the reigning Wimbledon champion added.
Holder Djokovic, seeking a fifth Paris Masters title, produced an under-par display. He had treatment on a knee problem in the second set, but eventually subdued Dimitrov, who grew frustrated as the match went on.
“No problem, thankfully. Just an awkward footing in that point, but all is well,” Djokovic said.
Canadian fourth seed Milos Raonic defeated Uruguay’s Pablo Cuevas 4-6, 6-1, 6-2 and next faces local favorite Jo-Wilfried Tsonga.
The Frenchman overcame a woeful start to the match to down Japanese fifth seed Kei Nishikori 0-6, 6-3, 7-6 (7/3).
Unseeded American Jack Sock followed up his second-round win against Austrian sixth seed Dominic Thiem with a 6-2, 3-6, 7-5 victory against 12th seed Richard Gasquet of France.
Ninth seed Cilic struggled to close out Goffin as he watched five match points go begging before finally claiming a pulsating second-set tiebreak.
Eighth seed Goffin had won all three of their previous meetings and was among the players in with a chance of seizing one of the final two spots in the eight-man field at the ATP World Tour Finals in London, but it was the 2014 US Open champion who refused to buckle under pressure.
Djokovic, Murray, Raonic, Stan Wawrinka, Nishikori and Gael Monfils had already qualified for the Nov. 13 to Nov. 20 season-ending tournament at the O2 Arena in London.
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