Marin Cilic qualifies for ATP World Tour Finals 2016, one spot remains

Marin Cilic has become the seventh and penultimate player to qualify for ATP World Tour Finals in London.

The Croatian secured his spot with a third-round win over David Goffin on Thursday at the BNP Paribas Masters in Paris. He joins Novak Djokovic, Andy Murray, Stan Wawrinka, Kei Nishikori, Milos Raonic and Gael Monfils in the elite eight-man field.

Cilic is set to make his second appearance at The O2. After winning his maiden Grand Slam title at the US Open in 2014, Cilic went on to qualify for the season finale.

“It’s been a huge last 10 days for me,” said Cilic. “I played very well today. I had the pressure and David had beaten me the past few times. I want to keep going now and can’t wait to return to The O2. It means a lot to qualify again.”

The 28-year-old Cilic’s 2016 season highlight came by winning his first ATP World Tour Masters 1000 crown at the Western & Southern Open in Cincinnati, where he defeated Andy Murray in the final.

It sparked a strong end to the season for the right-hander, as he won his second title of the year at the Swiss Indoors Basel (d. Nishikori) and reached the semi-finals of the Rakuten Japan Open Tennis Championships in Tokyo (l. to Goffin). Earlier in the year, Cilic had finished runner-up at the Open 13 in Marseille (l. to Kyrgios) and the Banque Eric Sturdza Geneva Open (l. to Wawrinka), as well as reaching the Wimbledon quarter-finals (l. to Federer).

Dominic Thiem, Tomas Berdych and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga are all in contention for the eighth and final spot at The O2.

Thiem is currently in line to qualify, but after losing his Paris opener to Jack Sock, the Austrian’s fate is dependent on the results of Berdych and Tsonga at the final ATP World Tour Masters 1000 tournament of the year. A semi-final showing would be good enough for Berdych, unless Tsonga wins the title.