Andy Murray guaranteed his place at the World Tour Finals in London with a 6-3 6-3 third-round victory over Bulgarian Grigor Dimitrov at the Paris Masters on Thursday.
The 27-year-old Scot, who also stays on course for a fourth tournament victory in just six weeks, will now play either world No.1 Novak Djokovic or French showman Gael Monfils in the quarter-finals on Friday.
Murray joins Djokovic, Roger Federer, Stan Wawrinka and Marin Cilic in reaching the season-ending showpiece with David Ferrer, Tomas Berdych and Kei Nishikori in possession of the other three spots but not yet assured places.
Canada’s Milos Raonic is now the only player who can gatecrash the top eight but needs to win the Paris tournament to guarantee his place.
Federer kept the pressure on Djokovic in the race for the year-ending number one spot with a gritty 6-4 6-4 victory over French world No.176 Lucas Pouille.
A crucial break for the 17-time grand slam winner in the seventh game of the second set, the longest game of the match, paved the way for victory over Pouille, who came through as a qualifier and had only recorded one Tour-level win before Paris this week.
It was Federer’s 14th straight victory and sets up a quarter-final matchup against Raonic.
Murray aimed a humourous retort at critics who have accused him of having had a poor season by writing “Bad Year!” on the courtside camera lens after his match.
“No, it wasn’t a jibe, it’s a bit of fun,” Murray said.
“I mean, if people are going to ask me all the time why I’ve had such a poor year by my standards, then, yeah, you’re allowed sometimes to say something in response to that.”
Berdych is one win from also sealing his place in London after easing into the last eight with a comfortable win over Spaniard Feliciano Lopez.
Following a first-round defeat at the Valencia Open last week, the 29-year-old Czech evened his record against Lopez at six wins apiece with a 7-5 6-3 victory.
Chasing an 11th ATP title, and third of the year, the Australian Open semi-finalist now plays South African 14th seed Kevin Anderson for a place in the semi-finals.
Anderson won a three-hour thriller over Swiss third seed Wawrinka 6-7 (2-7) 7-5 7-6 (7-3).
The two-time ATP winner, who had never been past the third round in Paris, converted a third match point to set up the meeting with Berdych.
Former champion Ferrer kept his quest on track to reach a second straight Paris final as he swept aside Spanish compatriot Fernando Verdasco 6-1 6-2.
He needs to reach the semi-finals to guarantee his spot in London and will now face Japanese star Nishikori.
Nishikori is firmly on track to become the first Japanese player to qualify for the World Finals after defeating French number one Jo-Wilfried Tsonga 6-1 4-6 6-4.
Raonic kept his slender London chances alive with a hard-fought 7-5 7-6 (9-7) victory over Spaniard Roberto Bautista Agut.
AFP rj
