Battle for No 1 spot heats up

TOP seed Novak Djokovic claimed a hard-fought comeback victory over Grigor Dimitrov to reach the quarter-finals at the BNP Paribas Masters.

The world No 1, who is the three-time defending champion in Paris, set up a l ast-eight clash with ninth seed Marin Cilic thanks to a 4-6 6-2 6-3 triumph over his Bulgarian opponent.

The Serbian will maintain his spot at the top of the world rankings ahead of Andy Murray should he win his next two matches to reach the Paris final.

Second seed Murray kept the heat on in his challenge for the top spot as he recorded a straight-sets victory over Lucas Pouille.

The 29-year-old Scot fired down six aces in a 6-3 6-0 win in 73 minutes on Centre Court after winning eight consecutive games t o see off t he Frenchman.

Murray’s quarter-final opponent will be Tomas Berdych after the seventh seed beat Gilles Simon 6-4 6-3 in the final match of the day.

On his tie with Czech Berdych in the last eight, Murray added: “I’ve played Simon a few times in the past few weeks and they’re hard matches, physically tough, a lot of long rallies.

“Whereas with Berdych, it’s a power game and much shorter points. Very different players.”

Earlier in t h e d ay, Croatia’s Cilic defeated eighth-seeded Belgian David Goffin with a 6-3 7-6 (11/9) win, while fourthseeded Canadian Milos Raonic was made to work hard before he also progressed thanks to a 4-6 6-1 6-2 victory over Pablo Cuevas of Uruguay.

Novak Djokovic