Paris Preview: Novak Wary Of Marin’s ‘Missiles’

Novak Djokovic won’t be taking anything for granted heading into his Rolex Paris Masters quarter-final with Marin Cilic Friday.

Two years ago, despite taking a 14-0 FedEx ATP head2head record against Cilic into the Paris quarter-finals, Djokovic’s eight years of dominance over the Croat ended in a straight-sets defeat that cost Djokovic the No. 1 ATP Ranking. He has not been back to No. 1 since, but will leapfrog Rafael Nadal as World No. 1 Monday after a stunning recovery from a low of No. 22 in June.  

View FedEx ATP Head2Head for the following match-up at the Rolex Paris Masters and vote for the players you think will win!
Federer vs Nishikori | Djokovic vs Cilic | Zverev vs Khachanov | Thiem vs Sock

Djokovic, however, is focused more immediately on his Friday appointment with Cilic, who also beat the 32-time ATP World Tour Masters 1000 champion in the Queen’s final this year, before Djokovic had his revenge in three sets in Cincinnati.

“Well, I had a very good head-to-head record [against Cilic] until that match a few years ago here,” Djokovic said. “It’s going to be a tough one. Tough to receive his missiles… and he’s got the really big game from back of the court. Great backhand, flat. He can play very aggressively and he can also defend well.

“We respect each other. We get along very well. We speak the same language. So I’m looking forward to it. It’s going to be a great match.”

Djokovic comes in with an ATP World Tour season-high 20-match winning streak and personal-best 30 sets won in a row streak. Cilic is guaranteed a spot at the Nitto ATP Finals in London if he reaches the semi-finals. 

The first match on Friday’s quarter-finals card is between the two youngest players remaining. The 21-year-old, Alexander Zverev brings a 2-0 record against the 22-year-old Karen Khachanov, who is appearing in his second career ATP Masters 1000 quarter-final after reaching the semi-finals in Toronto in August.  Zverev leads the ATP World Tour with 54 overall wins and 24 in ATP Masters 1000 tournaments. This is the German’s seventh ATP Masters 1000 quarter-final of the season and he is 5-1 in quarter-final matches.

In the second match on, Dominic Thiem takes a 2-1 head-to-head against Jack Sock, who won the last meeting two years ago in Paris in the second round. Sock is playing his first Top 10 opponent of the season and he’s trying to reach his first SF since last year’s Nitto ATP Finals in London. Thiem is trying to qualify for the Nitto ATP Finals for the third straight year.

In the final match on, Roger Federer enters with a 6-2 record (won last five) against Kei Nishikori, who must beat the Swiss in order to keep his London hopes alive. If he loses, then Cilic and Thiem will grab the last two spots. Both players are appearing in their first quarter-final in Paris since 2014 when Nishikori advanced to the semi-finals and Federer the quarter-finals.