Tennis: Djokovic bows out of Paris Masters

Paris, Nov 5: Serbian tennis player Novak Djokovic crashed out of the BNP Paribas Masters with a 6-4, 7-6 (7-2) quarterfinal loss to Marin Cilic of Croatia here.

Djokovic has been struggling with his game since capturing his first French Open title and completing the non-calendar-year Grand Slam in early June, opening the door for Cilic to earn his first victory over the Serbian in 15 tries on Friday,reports Efe.

The 29-year-old Djokovic, a four-time winner of this indoor event and three-time defending champion, won a surprisingly low percentage of his second-serve points - 46 per cent compared to 48 per cent for Cilic.

Cilic was broken twice in the match, but he dominated his service points in running away with the second-set tie-breaker.

Cilic will take on American John Isner, a 7-6 (8-6), 4-6, 6-4 winner over countryman Jack Sock, in Saturday's first semifinal.

In other match, Second-ranked Scotsman Andy Murray defeated Czech Tomas Berdych 7-6 (11-9), 7-5 in the quarterfinal and will ascend to the top of the rankings by defeating either Canada's Milos Raonic or France's Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in the semifinals.