Paris Masters: Raonic Shocks Federer; Djokovic Quells Murray to Reach Semifinals
17-time Grand Slam champion, Roger Federer, suffered one of his very few defeats this year after the Swiss maestro went down to big-serving Canadian, Milos Raonic, in the quarterfinals of the ATP Paris Masters on Friday.
This was Raonic’s first even career conquest of Federer, as the former took comprehensive advantage of his towering built and muscle power to subdue the latter 7-6, 7-5 with 21 aces in just 1 hour and 33 minutes.
By the virtue of this eye-catching win, Raonic qualifies for the year-ending Championships at the O2 Arena in London.
Meanwhile, World No.1 Novak Djokovic made a swift sail to the last-four stage by brushing aside two-time Grand Slam winner, Andy Murray, 7-5, 6-2.
BERDYCH, NISHIKORI ADVANCE
In the other quarterfinal match-ups, Czech Republic’s Tomas Berdych overcame a stiff challenge from South African Kevin Anderson, 6-7, 6-4, 6-4, while Japan’s Kei Nishikori edged past Spain’s David Ferrer, 3-6, 7-6, 6-4 to progress to the semifinals.
With this win, Nishikori joins the list of seven other elite players for the London tournament, thereby becoming the first ever tennis player from Asia to qualify for the coveted tournament.