"But at the end of the day it's a win, and I'm really pleased to overcome this kind of challenge," he added.

In his first appearance at the Paris Masters since 2017, Federer improved his momentum as matches went underway as he shrugged off Japan's Kei Nishikori in straight sets, and the latter failed to qualify for the ATP Finals later this month.

Federer registered a crucial break in the ninth game at 4-4 before triumphing the opening set 6-4.

With a 5-4 advantage in the following set, the Swiss veteran served out his match with four points in a row.

Unseeded Karen Khachanov powered past No. 4 seed Alexander Zverev hampered by shoulder pains 6-1, 6-2, and is set to make his second career ATP Masters 1000 semifinal appearance following that in Toronto in August.

"I had pain the whole week. After yesterday's match, I had a lot of pain in the evening and during the night as well. Then today during the warmup, especially on my second serve where I was doing the kick motion, I had a lot of pain, and just kind of stretching, and it was tough," said Zverev.

The Russian established his semifinal duel against Austria's Dominic Thiem, as the No. 6 seed rallied past the defending champion Jack Sock 4-6, 6-4, 6-4.

Nishikori's loss means that Cilic and Thiem have clinched the remaining two Finals spots. Other contenders at the year-end tournament will be Rafael Nadal, Djokovic, Federer, Juan Martin del Potro, Zverev and Kevin Anderson.

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