10SBALLS SHARES RICHARD EVANS REPORTING FROM THE PARIS INDOORS TENNIS

Written by: Staff on 3rd November 2016

BNP Paribas 2016 Masters Tennis Tournament

10SBALLS SHARES RICHARD EVANS REPORTING FROM THE PARIS INDOORS TENNIS

epa05615546 Marin Cilic of Croatia returns the ball to David Goffin of Belgium during their thirrd round match at the BNP Paribas 2016 Masters tennis tournament in Paris, France, 03 November 2016. EPA/IAN LANGSDON |

Bercy 2 – Cilic qualifies for London from Richard Evans, Paris

Marin Cilic ensured himself of a place in the eight man ATP Finals field in London with a 6-3, 7-6 win over close rival David Goffin; Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray stayed on course in their battle for a No 1 ranking finish for 2016 and there will be an all-American quarter final here in the BNP Paris Masters on Friday.

John Isner and Jack Sock, doubles partners in Shanghai where they won the title last month, will meet on the singles court for the eighth time with Isner leading their head-to-head record 4-3. But, of greater relevance is the fact that the vastly improved Sock won their last two encounters.

The Nebraskan certainly impressed Richard Gasquet, the No 12 seed here and a big crowd favorite, who lost a tight battle 6-2, 3-6, 7-5.

“With him, on every point, you have to run really fast,” said Gasquet, speaking in French afterwards. “He’s hitting hard on every shot. I was not able to put up with his pace. Even so, I needed two or three more points at the end and I could have won the match. But he plays extremely well. He’s gifted. He’s going to be top ten very soon.”

Jack Sock of the USA serves the ball to Richard Gasquet of France during their third round match at the BNP Paribas 2016 Masters tennis tournament in Paris, France, 03 November 2016. EPA/IAN LANGSDON

A semi-final place here in this, the final ATP Masters 1000 event of the year, would certainly help Sock towards that goal. But Isner looked as if he was enjoying the fast indoor surface here as he bounced back after losing the second set tie-breaker to the promising young German Jan-Lennard Struff to win 6-4, 6-7, 6-3.

Sock’s recent form, that has seen him reach the quarters in Shanghai and the final at Basel last Sunday, should give him the confidence boost he will need against his big-serving rival.

Cilic battled through a tough second set against Goffin who needed to win to keep his own chances of making the ATP Finals alive. The former US Open champion knew it was a big match for both of them but felt his extra experience played a part. “I’ve been in this battle for London before and I think that helped me,” said the popular Croat. “It was the goal of the season for me, to reach the Tour finals. Obviously top 8 in the world – that’s something all the players in the world are wishing for. It’s definitely something special, so it’s great for me that I achieved it and, especially in these last few weeks, I earned it and that, for me, is an even bigger plus.”

Djokovic and Murray, of course, have loftier goals and both will be satisfied with their progress. It was tougher for the Serb who had to withstand an excellent opening set from the talented Bulgarian Grigor Dimitrov before going on to win 4-6, 6-2, 6-3.

Djokovic appeared to hurt his leg late in the match but brushed it off in a press conference peppered with unusually curt answers. With Djokovic these days you never really know what’s going on his mind but his game looks in reasonable shape even though he admitted, “I can play better.” Cilic, who has never beaten him, will have to opportunity to discover just how much better in the quarters.

Novak Djokovic of Serbia returns the ball to Grigor Dimitrov of Bulgaria during their round 3 match at the BNP Paribas 2016 Masters tennis tournament in Paris, France, 03 November 2016. EPA/IAN LANGSDON

Murray dropped serve once and needed to fight his way out of a few break points against the young Frenchman Lucas Pouille but looked more at ease on a court playing much faster than Vienna and was never in trouble, winning 6-3, 6-0.

Wednesday’s three set battle with Fernando Verdasco had left him feeling tired but the Scot still forced himself to get up early so that he could get some extra practice time in the main stadium where the space and acoustics are entirely different to the other courts inside this vast Omnipalais.

“I went back and had a little sleep afterwards and felt fine,” said Murray whose aim is to win five titles in seven weeks which would be something of a Herculean task, even for him. With Beijing, Shanghai and Vienna already in his pocket, he will need, at the very least to win here to keep himself in contention to overtake Djokovic by year’s end.

Topics: 10sballs.com, Andy Murray, ATP Masters 1000, Bercy tennis, Bnp Paribas Masters, David Goffin, jack sock, Jan Lennard-Struff, John Isner, Marin Cilic, Novak Djokovic, Richard Evans, Richard Gasquet, Sports, Tennis