Canadian star Milos Raonic thwarted second seeded Roger Federer's chances to reclaim the World No. 1 rank at the PNB Paribas Masters in Paris on Friday.

Both Raonic and Federer were spot on with their service games in the first set as they held on to their serves to force the set into a tie-break which the 23-year-old won 7-4.

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It's more of the same in the second set as the seventh seeded Canadian smashed a total of 21 service aces and broke the Swiss late in the set to win his first match in seven outings against Federer 7(7)-6(5) 7-5 that lasted an hour and 33 minutes.

This is a big win for the Citi Open champion as he is now poised to qualify for the year-ending ATP World Tour Finals to be held in London.

"Considering all the circumstances around it, I think this was the biggest win for me," said Raonic.

The Japan Open finalist will cheer for Malaysian Open champion Kei Nishikori who's up against fourth seeded David Ferrer in the other quarterfinals matchup.

If the Japanese wins, both Nishikori and Raonic will clinch a spot at the eight-man short list to London but if the Spaniard wins, Raonic must win the tournament in order for him to qualify.

Not only did Raonic strengthen his chances at the prestigious event, he has also thwarted the Swiss Indoors champion's hopes of reclaiming the top ATP ranking.
But all is not lost for the Shanghai Rolex Masters champion as Federer still has a fighting chance in London.

"I always thought it was going to get solved in London," Federer said. "What this means is, I will have a good preparation for London. It's not that I didn't want to win here, but I knew it was going to be tough from the start. I accept that. Now I will continue to prepare for London." 

TagsMilos Raonic, Roger Federer, Kei Nishikori, David Ferrer