Ninth seed Marin Cilic set up a key clash with David Goffin in the Emirates ATP Race To London as he overcame fellow Croatian Ivo Karlovic 7-6(7), 6-2 on Wednesday in the second round of the BNP Paribas Masters in Paris.

“I’m really excited and satisfied with my form, especially these past few months,” said Cilic. “I’ve been trying for a long time to find that consistency at the big tournaments. That was a goal of mine at the beginning of the season, so I’m just hoping to continue with good tennis here and make it to London.”

Cilic will now play eighth seed Goffin, who kept alive his outside chance of playing at The O2 as he defeated Nicolas Mahut 7-6(5), 6-3. Goffin must beat Cilic and win the title at the AccorHotels Arena this week to clinch one of the two remaining spots in the elite eight-player field at the season finale.

“David has been playing very well this season. We just played in Tokyo and it was a tough match,” said Cilic. “It’s a battle now between me, him, Berdych and Tsonga. I’m just hoping to continue with my good tennis and find a good way to play him this time.”

With Rafael Nadal out for the rest of the season, ninth-placed Cilic is currently in line to qualify for the eight-man season finale at The O2, but must stay ahead of Tomas Berdych and Goffin this week at the ATP World Tour Masters 1000 tournament in Paris.

Cilic put himself in a strong position to qualify for the year-end championships for a second time after winning his second ATP World Tour title of the season last week in Basel, where he defeated Kei Nishikori in the final. The Croat first qualified at The O2 in 2014, the same year that he won his lone Grand Slam title at the US Open.

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Goffin leads his FedEx ATP Head2Head rivalry with Cilic 3-0, recording wins this year in Tokyo, Indian Wells and a Belgium-Croatia Davis Cup tie in March. But the indoor surface in Paris suits the big-serving Cilic, who will likely be able to earn plenty of short points off that shot. This will be the earliest round that they’ve played each other in an ATP World Tour event.

Goffin’s best result to date at an ATP World Tour Masters 1000 tournament is reaching back-to-back semi-finals earlier this year in Indian Wells and Miami.

“I’m just focused on what I have to do and I’ll play match by match,” said Goffin. “I can feel that it’s the end of the season and it’s never easy when you feel a little bit tired. But it’s a big tournament and my goal is to finish the season without any regrets. I’m just going to give everything until the end.”

DAY 3 PREVIEW: The No. 1 and 2 players in the Emirates ATP Rankings, Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray, headline a big Wednesday schedule at the BNP Paribas Masters. Overall, there are eight of the Top 10 seeds in second round action. Four Frenchmen are also on the order of play, including 2008 champion Jo-Wilfried Tsonga.

All eyes will be on reigning three-time (four overall) BNP Paribas Masters champion Djokovic and Murray, who is the hottest player on the ATP World Tour since May. Murray, who lost to Djokovic in last year’s final, has reached the final in 10 of the 11 tournaments he has played in the past six months, winning a career-best seven titles. Now Murray is within striking distance of becoming No. 1 in the Emirates ATP Rankings for the first time in his career.

The 29-year-old Briton needs to reach the final with Djokovic losing before the semi-finals or Murray can also pass Djokovic by winning the Paris title over any opponent other than the Serb. Both players come into the tournament with 15-match winning streaks. Murray won a Davis Cup match (d. Pella) in September and then captured three straight titles in Beijing, ATP Masters 1000 Shanghai and Vienna. Djokovic has won 15 straight matches in Bercy since 2013. He has ranked No. 1 for 122 consecutive weeks since July 7, 2014 and 223 overall in his career.

Djokovic is the fourth match on Court Central against big-serving left-hander Gilles Muller, who is 0-3 (0-8 in sets) against the World No. 1. Muller is 9-35 lifetime against Top 10 opponents (2-4 this season). Djokovic is trying to post his 60th match win of the season and extend his streak to 10 consecutive years with 60 (or more) match wins.

In the evening session, Murray brings an 11-1 career record against Fernando Verdasco. Murray has won the past six meetings against the Spaniard since Verdasco’s lone win came in the 4R at the 2009 Australian Open. Murray has won the most matches (69) on the ATP World Tour this season and he’s looking to win 70 matches for the second straight year. He won a career-best 71 last season. Verdasco has 22 career Top 10 wins and his last win over a World No. 2 came against countryman Nadal at 2012 ATP Masters 1000 Madrid.

In the last match on Court Central, No. 3 Stan Wawrinka takes on German qualifier Jan-Lennard Struff for the first time. Wawrinka is one of four players on the ATP World Tour this season to win at least four titles.

There are two spots remaining to qualify for the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals in London. Six players in contention are in action, including Dominic Thiem, who is 7th in the Emirates ATP Race to London. Thiem is 2-0 against top American Jack Sock. Marin Cilic, who holds the 8th and final spot, takes on big-serving countryman Ivo Karlovic for the fifth time (tied 2-2). Karlovic leads the ATP World Tour this season with 1,121 aces. Top Belgian David Goffin, who is 400 points behind Cilic, opens against Frenchman Nicolas Mahut on Court 1. Goffin has won two of the previous three meetings, including a three-set QF in Metz in September.

View the Emirates ATP Race To London

Other Frenchmen in action are: No. 11 Tsonga (vs. Albert Ramos-Vinolas), No. 13 Lucas Pouille (vs. Feliciano Lopez), and Gilles Simon (vs. No. 10 Roberto Bautista Agut). Tsonga and Pouille are facing the same opponents for the second straight week. Last week in Vienna, Tsonga beat Ramos-Vinolas 62 76 in the quarter-finals and Pouille lost to Lopez 64 26 75 in the 1R (after holding match point). Simon owns a 3-1 head-to-head advantage against Bautista Agut.

Frenchmen Julien Benneteau and Edouard Roger-Vasselin kept their London hopes alive on Tuesday with a 2-6, 6-0, 10-6 win against Pablo Cuevas and David Marrero at the BNP Paribas Masters in Paris. Benneteau/Roger-Vasselin are currently in 12^th place in the Emirates ATP Doubles Race To London, 875 points behind Treat Huey and Max Mirnyi, who currently hold the eighth and final qualification spot into the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals.

But Huey/Mirnyi lost in the first round in Paris, giving Benneteau/Roger-Vasselin an opportunity to make up ground at the ATP World Tour Masters 1000 tournament. The Frenchmen will face fifth seeds Feliciano Lopez and Marc Lopez in the second round.

View the Emirates ATP Doubles Race To London

Frenchmen Lucas Pouille and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga knocked out countrymen Jonathan Eysseric and Tristan Lamasine 7-5, 3-6, 10-7. Martin Klizan and Joao Sousa advanced past Fabrice Martin and Gilles Simon 6-4, 6-7(2), 10-7. Philipp Kohlschreiber and Dominic Thiem needed only 55 minutes to prevail against Paolo Lorenzi and Albert Ramos-Vinolas 6-1, 7-5.

Jack Sock should have been celebrating his first-round win at the BNP Paribas Masters in Paris. But after his straight-sets win on Tuesday, the American could only think about the little boy who had been seen by paramedics during the match.

Was he OK? Is he still around? Where is he? Sock quizzed others after his win.

During the latter part of the second set, Sock had hit a first serve that landed out but bounced into the first row and hit the French boy in the mouth. The boy started crying. Play was stopped. On-site paramedics came and gave the boy an ice pack. Sock worried.

“Obviously I couldn’t see exactly what happened,” he said. “At first when I saw the serve go over and it hit him, I thought it could be his eye and he was wearing glasses, so could have been a disaster.”

The 24 year old would soon learn the situation wasn’t as bad as he had feared. The boy, who was with his dad in the stands, had stuck around after the match. He had endured a bloody nose from Sock’s serve but not much else, Sock said.

The World No. 24 comforted the boy and posed for some photos with him. Sock also gave him one of his wristbands.

“It was better than I thought it was,” Sock said. “I’m glad he’s OK.”