PARIS: Canada\'s Milos Raonic returns the ball to Switzerland\'s Roger Federer during a quarter-final match at the Bercy Palais-Omnisport here Friday. — AFP Photo PARIS, Nov 1 (AP): Milos Raonic perfectly timed his maiden win over Roger Federer.
The seventh-seeded Raonic, who had never beaten the 17-Grand Slam champion in six previous meetings, hit 21 aces and lost only 15 points on his serve to complete a 7-6 (5), 7-5 win to reach the semifinals of the Paris Masters Friday.
It was a must-win match for the big-serving Canadian, who kept alive his chances of qualifying for the ATP Finals after finding his best tennis at the right time, before Kei Nishikori sent him to the year-end tournament in London with a hard-fought win over David Ferrer in the final quarterfinal.
Nishikori's 3-6, 7-6 (5), 6-4 victory sealed the field for the Nov. 9-16 tournament at the O2, where he and Raonic will be playing for the first time.
"Considering all the circumstances around it, I think this was the biggest win for me," said the 23-year-old Raonic.
The Wimbledon semifinalist brutally ended Federer's 14-match winning streak as the Swiss took a hit in his bid to overtake the top-ranked Novak Djokovic in the race for the year-end No. 1 spot.
Djokovic, a two-time champion in Paris, defeated eighth-seeded Andy Murray 7-5, 6-2 to advance to the semifinals against Nishikori.
Murray, who booked his spot at the finals in the previous round, played 23 matches over the past six weeks and could not prevent the Serb from winning the final 5 games of the match as fatigue took its toll.
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