Landmark for ruthless Djokovic

PARIS: Novak Djokovic celebrated his elevation to world number one by reaching a new personal landmark to reach the Paris Masters quarter-finals on Thursday.

The Serb won his last 16 tie with Damir Dzumhur after the Bosnian was forced to retire trailing 6-1, 2-1 at Bercy.For second seed Djokovic it meant he extended his sequence of consecutive winning sets to 30, passing his previous best mark of 29 from 2015. The four-time Paris champion faces Marin Cilic in the last eight on Friday.

Djokovic takes over as world number one in the latest ATP rankings published Monday from Rafael Nadal, who withdrew injured from Paris on Wednesday. Cilic, the fifth seed, secured his quarter-final ticket with a 7-6 (7/5), 6-4 defeat of Grigor Dimitrov.

Cilic fired 29 winners to advance to the last eight in the French capital for the third straight year.The win improved the Croat’s prospects of making the ATP Finals in London starting on November 11.

Cilic, who will guarantee making the cut for London if he downs Djokovic, was ending reigning ATP Finals champion Dimitrov’s season. Dimitrov has been coached by a former coach of Djokovic, eight-time major winner Andre Agassi, in Paris this week.