Paris: Federer, Nishikori to meet in blockbuster quarterfinal

Roger Federer and Kei Nishikori will clash in a highly anticipated Paris Masters quarterfinal after both men cruised to victory in their third-round matches on Thursday.

Federer, who is competing in France for the first time since 2015, defeated Fabio Fognini 6-4 6-3 in one hour and 13 minutes, keeping alive his bid for a 100th tour title.

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The world No.3 managed to save four out of five break points against the dangerous Italian and converted four out of six of his own break points to secure his eighth career quarterfinal in Paris.

“I think both of us were far from our best, but we fought with what we had and at the end I think I maybe served a bit better in the important moments than Fabio did,” the Swiss told atpworldtour.com.

“Off the baseline, it was tough. He takes the ball early and can really redirect really well. But I’m very happy because it means I’m moving on in the tournament.”

After Kevin Anderson defeated him four days ago in the Erste Bank Open final, Kei Nishikori got swift revenge with a 6-4 6-4 victory.

Nishikori, who has won 19 of his last 24 matches, is yet to face a break point so far in Paris.

He sits ninth in the ATP Race to London behind No.8 Dominic Thiem and No.7 Marin Cilic, but is still likely to qualify as No.4 Juan Martin del Potro recovers from a fractured right kneecap.

KeiUpdate since the start of the US Open

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19-5. pic.twitter.com/BNMhlnRNNB

— José Morgado (@josemorgado) November 1, 2018

In other results, Shanghai Masters finalist Borna Coric’s season is officially over after the Croatian lost to Dominic Thiem 7-6(3) 2-6 5-7. Defending champion Jack Sock defeated Malek Jaziri 6-0 6-4 to set up a quarterfinal showdown with Thiem.

Alexander Zverev made short work of Diego Schwartzman 6-4 6-2 and Karen Khachanov put John Isner’s ATP Finals hopes to bed with a 6-4 6-7(9) 7-6(8) victory. Zverev and Khachanov will meet in the quarters.

Marin Cilic also put the final nail in Grigor Dimitrov’s miserable season and next plays Novak Djokovic, after the soon-to-be world No.1 beat Damir Džumhur 6-1 2-1 (ret.) to extend his winning streak to 20 matches.