"That was the goal of the season for me, to reach the Tour finals in London," said the Croatian after his last 16 win.

"Obviously top 8 in the world, that's something all the players in the world are wishing for. It's one of the best tournaments in the world, for sure, to battle it out with best ones in the world in that kind of a format," he added.

Cilic joined field for the ATP year-end championships alongside Novak Djokovic, Andy Murray, Stan Wawrinka, Kei Nishikori, Milos Raonic and Gael Monfils.

The quest for the No. 1 spot continues between Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray, as they beat their respective opponents to reach the quarterfinals in Paris.

Unlike on Wednesday, when the top-seeded Serb had an easier day, it was Murray's turn on Thursday to score a comfortable win, dismantling Lucas Pouille 6-3, 6-0 in 72 minutes.

Djokovic, on the other hand, had to stay on the court for almost 2 and a half hours to defeat Grigor Dimitrov, who won the opening set but fell in the end 4-6, 6-2, 6-3.

Seventh-seed Berdych broke his opponent three times and held the lead throughout the contest to record a convincing win over crowd favorite Gilles Simon in the day's final match, 6-4, 6-3.

The Czech will next play second-seed Murray, while the defending champion Djokovic, seeking a fifth title here, takes on Cilic.

Also on Thursday, unseeded American Jack Sock followed up his second-round win against Austrian sixth seed Dominic Thiem with a 6-2, 3-6, 7-5 victory against number 12 Richard Gasquet of France.

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