Paris Masters 2018, Day 4: Novak Djokovic sets a personal record of winning 30 consecutive sets, Roger Federer chases his 100th ATP title
The final stop of the regular ATP calendar, Rolex Paris Masters often is the most uncompromising one. At least, for some players - those that were in the hunt to directly qualify for ATP Finals - it is.
Roger Federer ended Fabio Fognini's outside chances of a qualification with a 6-4, 6-3 win in just 73 minutes after both players struggled to find any momentum on serve. Federer got the better of Fognini and stayed in the hunt for an epic 100th title following an error-prone outing from the Italian. This was only the sixth quarterfinal appearance in 13 attempts at Paris Masters for Federer.
Facing Federer in the quarterfinals will be Japanese star Kei Nishikori. Nishikori's late surge in the rankings and a first good run of form following his comeback from injury continues as his London qualification chances received a huge boost when he defeated Kevin Anderson. The South African 6'8" giant, who has made it to 2 Grand Slam finals but failed to reach a Masters 1000 final, will have to wait some more. Nishikori defeated Anderson 6-4, 6-4, thus staying within touching distance of a direct qualification as he trails no. 8 Dominic Thiem by just 325 points. But, Nishikori's qualification is all but confirmed as no. 4 Juan Martin del Potro is expected to withdraw from the event due to a knee injury.
However, Nishikori's rival contender for the 9th spot, John Isner dropped out of the race as he failed to convert multiple match points in a nail-biting match against Russian youngster Karen Khachanov. Isner had saved 3 match points in the second set tiebreaker to keep his hopes alive but failed to put pressure on the Khachanov serve when it mattered most. The Russian world no. 18 won 32/37 first serve points to win 6-4, 6-7(9), 7-6(8) in 2 hours and 28 minutes.
Khachanov will face world no. 5 Alexander Zverev in the quarterfinals to overturn a 0-2 H2H. Zverev was near flawless in his 3rd round match against Diego Schwartzman, as he overpowered the 5'7" Argentine in just 81 minutes to win 6-4, 6-2. Despite not being at his best this season, Zverev has managed to make the quarterfinals at 7 of the 9 Masters 1000 events this season.
At the start of the day's play, 5th seeded Marin Cilic overcame a tough fight from Grigor Dimitrov to win 7-6(5), 6-4 to make Paris Masters quarterfinals for the third consecutive year and improve his chances of a direct qualification in London. Following the loss, 2017 ATP Finals champion and former world no. 3 Dimitrov will end the season at 19th.
Cilic will be up against Novak Djokovic who set a personal best record of 30 consecutive sets won, getting past 29 consecutive sets won in 2015 (from US Open final to Paris Masters semifinal). Djokovic defeated an injured Damir Dzumhur 6-1, 2-1(retd.) This win also ensured that Djokovic now has six streaks of 20 consecutive match wins. On Friday, Djokovic will look to improve his 15-2 H2H record against Cilic. One of Cilic's two wins came at this very stage in 2016, when the Croat beat the Serb 6-4, 7-6(2) to end his reign as no. 1. Two years hence, Djokovic will return to the top of the world rankings for the first time after this week.
Meanwhile, Dominic Thiem, who seems to have finally found a way to work around his hard court demons, reached Paris Masters quarterfinals for the first time in his career. Thiem defeated Shanghai Masters finalist and rising star Borna Coric 6-7(3), 6-2, 7-5 in what was possibly the match of the day. Thiem, much like Nishikori and Cilic, is now in the hunt to capture one of the remaining two spots for the ATP Finals.
Thiem's opponent in the last eight stage will be Jack Sock, the defending Paris Masters champion who has managed to stop himself from dropping out of the top 150 after finishing 2017 as a top 8 player. Sock defeated lucky loser Malek Jaziri 6-0, 6-4 in just 55 minutes to set up a 4th H2H meeting against the Austrian.
The quarterfinals are set with the London qualification scenario heating up. No. 4 seed Alexander Zverev takes on Karen Khachanov. Dominic Thiem, Marin Cilic and Kei Nishikori aim to book their spots in London as they take on Jack Sock, Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer respectively.