Novak Djokovic beats Taylor Fritz to set up Shanghai Masters final with Jannik Sinner
By Lee Vowell
The old guy is not quite done yet. Novak Djokovic might have chosen to start playing fewer tournaments, spend more time with his family, and prepare even further for life after tennis, but make no mistake that he is still a threat to win tournaments and compete with the other great players on the ATP tour. That will include a fantastic Shanghai Masters final versus Jannik Sinner.
Both Sinner and Djokovic won their semifinal matches in straight sets on Saturday. Both also had the same relative degree of difficulty in winning their matches. Sinner defeated Tomas Machac 6-4 7-5, while Djokovic defeated Taylor Fritz 6-4 7-6(6). The victory was the Serb's tenth straight over the American.
Djokovic played brilliantly throughout the match, but Fritz kept testing him, especially with his first serve. If not for the Serb's ridiculous ability to get to balls most humans never could and then hit returns to spots that are seemingly impossible, Fritz might very well have done. The American should also be proud that he did not allow himself to get demoralized by how well Djokovic was playing.
Novak Djokovic will face Jannik Sinner in the final of the Shanghai Masters
In fact, in his run in Shanghai, the Serb has played some of his best tennis of the year. He has dropped just one set in the tournament and that was in a tie-break. He has also moved up three spots in the Race to Turin to become a solid No. 6. If he wants to play in the ATP Finals, he will.
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Sinner - who has clinched the year-end No. 1 ranking - has also dropped just one set in the tournament and has possibly the most impressive victory of any player. He dominated Daniil Medvedev, a very good hard-court player, in the quarterfinals and lost only five games. If Sinner plays as well as he did against Medvedev, he should be expected to defeat Djokovic.
Still, the Serb can never be counted out of any event. He played extremely cleanly against Fritz as he had seven aces but no double faults. He was also never broken. He hit 28 winners against just 17 unforced errors. Sinner will put Djokovic in more difficult situations than Fritz, but Sinner understands Djokovic will do the same to him.
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