PARIS, (Reuters) – Briton Andy Murray continued his recent resurgence when he qualified for the ATP World Tour Finals by reaching the quarter-finals of the Paris Masters with a 6-3 6-3 win against Bulgarian Grigor Dimitrov yesterday.
After dropping outside the world’s top 10 following his U.S. Open quarter-final exit, Murray began a late push for a spot in the London showpiece event, which features eight of the best players this season.
The eighth seed showed he was up to the task by seeing off the ninth seed Dimitrov, who is now eliminated from the race for the Nov. 10-16 event at London’s O2.
Murray will take on either world number one Novak Djokovic of Serbia or France’s Gael Monfils for a semi-final spot.
Earlier, third seed Stan Wawrinka was knocked out in the third round when he lost 6-7(2) 7-5 7-6(3) against South African Kevin Anderson, suffering his fourth defeat in five matches.
The Swiss, who has already qualified for the Tour Finals, had lost his opening matches in the three previous tournaments he had entered.
A solid performance in the second round in Paris against Austrian Dominic Thiem was followed by an erratic display against the 14th seeded Anderson, who served 18 aces.
Wawrinka saved two match points to force a tiebreak in the decider, but was unable to match Anderson, who upped his level to book a quarter-final spot against Czech Tomas Berdych.
The fifth-seeded Berdych kept his Tour Finals hopes alive with a 7-5 6-3 win over Spain’s Feliciano Lopez.
THE RACE TO LONDON: POINTS 1 Novak Djokovic 9100 – qualified 2 Roger Federer 8610 – qualified 3 Rafa Nadal* 6835 – withdrew 4 Stan Wawrinka 4895 – qualified 5 Andy Murray 4475 – qualified 6 Kei Nishikori 4355 7 Tomas Berdych 4285 8 Marin Cilic** 4150 – qualified 9 David Ferrer 4045 – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – 10 Milos Raonic 3930
* Nadal has withdrawn due to appendicitis
** Cilic qualifies as U.S. Open champion
