Marin Cilic ended a three-match losing streak against David Goffin at the Paris Masters on Thursday to earn a spot at the ATP Finals.
The former US Open champion needs to stop an even worse run if he is to make it to the last four in the French capital. Cilic converted his sixth match point to beat Goffin 6-3, 7-6 (9) at the indoor tournament, giving him a spot in the quarterfinals and one of the remaining two berths in the eight-man ATP Finals in london this month.
Next on his plate is top-ranked Novak Djokjovic, who rallied past Grigor Dimitrov 4-6, 6-2, 6-3. Cilic has a terrible 0-14 record against the Serb.
"He likes to play me," Cilic said. "Or if you want to put it around differently, I don't like to play him that much."
A three-time defending champion at the Paris Masters, Djokovic sealed victory on his second match point. Dimitrov served and returned extremely well in the opener, then the Bulgarian appeared to lose his focus and was undone by multiple errors. Djokovic called the trainer at 3-1 up in the second set because of pain in his right knee after falling while chasing a shot. He played with more accuracy afterwards. "No problem, thankfully," Djokovic said. "Just an awkward footing in that point, but all is well."
Andy Murray, who can topple Djokovic in the rankings if he wins the tournament and Djokovic does not reach the final, made the quarters with no trouble, dispatching lucas Pouille of France 6-3, 6-0. The Briton will next take on Tomas Berdych, who beat Gilles Simon 6-4, 6-3.
Dominic Thiem of Austria will complete the field in london if Berdych fails to reach the semifinals in Paris and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga does not win the title.