Milos Raonic pulled out his best tennis when it counted most on Friday at the BNP Paribas Masters, keeping his Barclays ATP World Tour Finals dream alive as he defeated Roger Federer, 7-6(5), 7-5, for the first time in seven attempts to reach the semi-finals in Paris.
If Kei Nishikori beats David Ferrer in the final quarter-final of the day, the field will be set for the Final Showdown, with Nishikori and Raonic clinching the final two berths.
The 23-year-old Raonic is bidding to qualify for the season finale, to be held at The O2 in London from 9-16 November, for the first time. The Toronto native needs to go one round further than Ferrer at this ATP World Tour Masters 1000 tournament in Paris-Bercy.
In Saturday’s semi-finals, Raonic will face Tomas Berdych, who earlier booked his spot in London with victory over Kevin Anderson. Raonic leads Berdych 2-1 in their FedEx ATP Head2Head series and is bidding to reach his second ATP World Tour Masters 1000 final. He finished runner-up to Rafael Nadal in Montreal last year.
Federer’s defeat gives Djokovic the chance to stretch his lead in their battle to finish the year as World No. 1. The Serb has a 490-point lead over Federer and plays Andy Murray in the Paris quarter-finals.
Raonic fired 21 aces as he edged Federer in one hour and 33 minutes. The Toronto native saved a break point at 4-5, 30/40 in the second set before breaking Federer decisively in the following game. It is the first time that Raonic has beaten one of the Top 3.
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