PARIS, November 4, 2016

Marin Cilic upset the top seed Novak Djokovic in the quarterfinals of the BNP Parisbas Masters in Paris on Friday, winning 6-4, 7-6. The ninth seed from Croatia, who qualified for the ATP World Tour Finals on Thursday, sent down nine aces and capitalized on three of his eight break point chances to gain his first win over Djokovic in 15th attempt after one hour and 44 minutes.

“He definitely played better today, and he deserved to win… I wasn’t on the level that I could have been on,” Djokovic said. “I was also… in a good position to take the match into the third set, and then two double faults. Just in important moments I wasn’t able to deliver.”

Cilic will next take on John Isner from the United States, who beat fellow countryman Jack Sock 7-6, 4-6, 6-4 in two hours and 17 minutes.

Djokovic’s loss means that Andy Murray now controls his fate in the battle for No. 1. The Scot is only win away, as he defeated Tomas Berdych 7-6, 7-5 and will get to the top of the Emirates ATP Rankings if he reaches the Paris final. Murray won 85 per cent of his first service points to prevail in just under two hours of play. Murray will next take on Milos Raonic of Canada, who defeated Jo-Wilfried Tsonga 6-2, 7-6  in one hour and 31 minutes.