By Chris Oddo | Thursday November 3, 2016
Marin Cilic has booked the seventh spot at this year’s World Tour Finals in London. The former U.S. Open champion knocked Belgium’s David Goffin out of contention with a 6-3, 7-6 (9) victory on Thursday at the Paris Masters.
More: Williams Sisters Help Launch New Center to Honor Late Sister
Cilic, who won the Basel title last week, has now won seven matches in succession.
Dominic Thiem will clinch the final spot despite having lost in the first round if Tomas Berdych does not reach the Paris semi-finals and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga does not win title. While Tsonga is alive, Berdych must reach the final to guarantee his spot.
Tsonga will be in action later Thursday against Kei Nishikori while Berdych will face Gilles Simon.
Goffin sees his three-match winning streak over Cilic end, and falls just short of the 50-win mark in 2016. The Belgian ends his campaign at 49-24 with a runner-up showing in Tokyo as his best performance.
Cilic will make his second appearance at the prestigious year-end finals in London. He dropped all three of his Round Robin tllts in 2014.
After rallying from 5-3 down to force a tiebreak, Cilic failed to convert five match points against Goffin in the second-set tiebreaker, but finally closed affairs on his sixth, when Goffin shanked a forehand into the crowd.