Djokovic, Federer move into Paris Masters quarter-finals
Swiss great hoping to capture his 100th career title
Novak Djokovic advanced to the Paris Masters quarter-finals when Damir Dzumhur retired trailing 6-1, 2-1 on Thursday.
Dzumhur had a lengthy massage on his lower back late in the first set and got loud applause when he carried on playing, but after a few more games, he stopped for good. Djokovic was in total control and did not face a break point, breaking Dzumhur's serve three times.
Roger Federer is also into the quarters in his for a 100th title. He easily beat Fabio Fognini in straight sets.
The 37-year-old Swiss had only made a late decision to compete in Bercy after winning his 99th title in his home town Basel on Sunday but, despite a touch of raggedness, was sharp enough to outclass the Italian 6-4 6-3 in his opening match.
Djokovic, who will reclaim the No. 1 ranking next week regardless of where he finishes, faces Marin Cilic in the quarter-finals.
Highlights of Djokovic's win:
Highlights of Federer's win:
"I'm obviously very proud of the achievement," said Djokovic, whose ranking slipped to No. 22 in May as he struggled to shake off a persistent elbow problem. "Five months ago, if you told me that [I would be No. 1 now], it was highly improbable at that time considering my ranking and the way I played and felt on the court."
Although Djokovic leads Cilic 15-3 overall, Cilic won two of their past three matches — including two years ago in the Paris Masters quarter-finals.
"He has a big serve and big game from back of the court. It's just a very powerful style of tennis," Djokovic said. "Tough to receive his missiles. You know, first serves are really, really fast, and he uses a lot of rotation and variation with his serve."
The fifth-seeded Cilic beat ninth-seeded Grigor Dimitrov 7-6 (5), 6-4, needing six set points to win the first set.
Cilic trailed 5-4 during the tiebreaker but won both points on Dimitrov's serve before serving out the first set.
He started the second set by breaking Dimitrov and was largely in charge after that.
Fourth-seeded Alexander Zverev saved all four break points he faced in beating Diego Schwartzman 6-4, 6-2.
Zverev next faces unseeded Karen Khachanov.
Khachanov slid on his back and stretched out his arms in celebration after prevailing against John Isner 6-4, 6-7 (9), 7-6 (8) in a match in which the eighth-seeded Isner had 19 aces but missed two match points.
Khachanov, who won the Kremlin Cup in Moscow last month, did not face a break point in the 2 1/2-hour match.
Defending champion Jack Sock needed less than one hour to beat lucky loser Malek Jaziri 6-0, 6-4.
The 16th-seeded Sock did not face a break point and broke the Tunisian player's serve four times.
Sock next faces No. 6 Dominic Thiem, who used 14 aces as he rallied to beat No. 11 Borna Coric 6-7 (3), 6-2, 7-5.