By Chris Oddo | Thursday, October 30, 2014

 

Novak Djokovic eased past Gael Monfils in Paris to set up a blockbuster quarterfinal with Andy Murray on Friday.

Photo Source: Reuters

Novak Djokovic weathered the best that Gael Monfils has to offer during a spirited second set to improve his lifetime record to 11-0 vs. the Frenchman and increase his chances of retaining the No. 1 ranking after this week’s Paris Masters conclude.

More Paris: Federer Notches 14th Straight Victory

Djokovic, who will face Andy Murray in a blockbuster quarterfinal on Friday, can only fall to No. 2 at week’s end if he fails to reach the final in Bercy while Roger Federer goes on to claim the title.

With points from last year’s events in Paris and the World Tour Finals in London coming off at the end of the week, Djokovic will drop 2500 points of his running tally, while Federer will only drop 760.

On Friday, Djokovic won his second match since becoming a father, to move within three victories of his 600th ATP win. If the Serb wins the title he’ll become the fifth active player to reach the mark.

Federer, meanwhile, is just nine shy of reaching the 1,000 win mark. The world No. 2 will face Milos Raonic in Friday’s quarterfinals in Paris.

If Raonic, who is currently one spot away from London qualification, loses, he will be officially eliminated from the race, meaning that Kei Nishikori, Tomas Berdych and David Ferrer will all qualify.

Raonic can only guarantee qualification for London with a title or if he goes one round further than David Ferrer (who plays Nishikori tomorrow).

Berdych and Nishikori can qualify with victories on Friday, while Ferrer can guarantee qualification by reaching the final or going one round further than Raonic.

If Berdych falls tomorrow, Raonic could pass him by reaching the final. The Canadian is currently 265 points behind the Czech, but if Berdych loses Friday and Raonic reaches the final, the Canadian would experience a net gain of 420 points.