Top seed and three-time defending BNP Paribas Masters champion Novak Djokovic fought through a tricky opponent on Thursday in Paris, rallying from a set down and defeat No. 14 seed Grigor Dimitrov in their third-round clash, 4-6, 6-2, 6-3. Djokovic extends his win streak in Bercy to 17 consecutive matches. He will maintain his World No. 1 ranking over Andy Murray should he win two more matches and reach the final in Paris. “I'm very grateful to have such a crowd and perform in front of them. I think they appreciated the battle between Grigor and I today,” said Djokovic. “I think we both gave what we could. I think it was a really, really nice match to be a...
Jack Sock continued his outstanding finish to 2016 by reaching the quarter-finals of the BNP Paribas Masters in Paris on Thursday, ousting No. 12 seed and local favourite Richard Gasquet in a thrilling match, 6-2, 3-6, 7-5. Next up for Sock is John Isner, who ended the inspired run of qualifier Jan-Lennard Struff, 6-4, 6-7(4), 6-3. Struff was riding high after defeating third seed Stan Wawrinka on Wednesday night, but couldn't figure out a way to break Isner. The American has yet to drop serve in his 39 service games so far this week. Sock trails his FedEx ATP Head2Head series with Isner 3-4, but has won their past two matches in straight sets. Sock dropped just two points on serve...
Marin Cilic booked his spot in the BNP Paribas Masters quarter-finals on Thursday and also clinched his place at the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals, to be held at The O2 in London from 13-20 November. The ninth-seeded Croatian ended David Goffin’s hopes of qualifying for the prestigious season finale with a 6-3, 7-6(9) victory in one hour and 55 minutes, with his first win in their fourth meeting. Cilic could not convert five match points at 6/3, 7/6, 8/7 in the second set tie-break. “I was expecting it,” said Cilic. “That's what I was playing for. I have been in this Battle for London for a few years. You can say I'm getting experienced in that, so it's something...
Andy Murray came through a stern opening test from Fernando Verdasco on Wednesday at the BNP Paribas Masters in Paris, weathering some inspired play from the Spaniard to advance, 6-3, 6-7(5), 7-5. "It wasn't the best match from my side. I got through it. I will play better tomorrow," Murray said. "I didn't necessarily feel comfortable out there, but I feel like the way the two of us finished the match, I was stronger at the end in the last game when I had my chance." With the win, Murray remains in contention to unseat Novak Djokovic as World No. 1. He will need to either win in Paris and have Djokovic lose before the final, or finish runner-up and...
Aisam-Ul-Haq Qureshi’s decision to team up with Grigor Dimitrov at the BNP Paribas Masters payed immediate dividends. The new partnership completed a 6-4, 3-6, 10-6 upset of No. 2 seeds Jamie Murray and Bruno Soares in the second round on Wednesday. Dimitrov/Qureshi served well against Murray/Soares, who are already assured of a place at the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals. The new pairing won 89 per cent of first-serve points and only faced one break point in the win. They are into the quarter-finals and await Marcelo Melo and Vasek Pospisil, or Philipp Kohlschreiber and Dominic Thiem. No. 3 seeds Bob Bryan and Mike Bryan avoided an upset, winning 6-4, 6-4 against French wild cards Quentin Halys and Adrian Mannarino....
