Novak Djokovic made a significant move in his bid to regain the World No. 1 ranking on Saturday, cruising past Alexander Zverev 6-2, 6-1 on Saturday to guarantee a return to No. 2 at the Rolex Shanghai Masters.
Competing in his 1000th tour-level match (827-173), the three-time champion defeated Zverev in one hour to reach his fourth final at the ATP World Tour Masters 1000 event (3-0). As a result of reaching the championship match, Djokovic will surpass defending champion Roger Federer to No. 2 when the next edition of the ATP Rankings are published on 15 October. If Djokovic, who last held the No. 2 ranking on June 11, 2017, wins his fourth Shanghai trophy, he will move just 35 points behind No. 1 Rafael Nadal in the ATP Race To London.
Djokovic, who did not face a break point en route to victory, will put an impressive unbeaten record on the line when he meets Roger Federer or Borna Coric on Sunday. The 31-year-old owns a 10-0 record in Chinese finals, having triumphed in each championship match he has contested in Beijing (6-0) and the Rolex Shanghai Masters (3-0). Djokovic also captured the 2008 Nitto ATP Finals trophy when the event was previously held in Shanghai.
In 46 career FedEx ATP Head2Head meetings, Djokovic leads Federer 24-22. The pair last met at in the Western & Southern Open championship match, with Djokovic defeating his great rival to become the first man to capture each of the nine ATP World Tour Masters 1000 titles. Djokovic also leads his FedEx ATP Head2Head series against Coric, beating the Croatian in both their previous clashes.
Zverev was aiming to become the first man to record 50 tour-level victories this season, but falls to 49-16 after reaching his eighth semi-final in 2018. This week, the 21-year-old became the fifth man to qualify for the Nitto ATP Finals at The 02 in London from 11-18 November. Zverev joined Nadal, Federer, Djokovic and Juan Martin del Potro who had already qualified for the season-ending event in the English capital.
Djokovic took a one-set lead with stunning court coverage skills, sacrificing court position to soak up the pressure from the German and extract errors in crucial moments. The 14-time Grand Slam champion regularly forced Zverev into uncomfortable positions and capitalised on poorly-timed double faults to break Zverev twice in the opening set. Heading into the semi-final clash, Zverev had held serve in 29 of his 30 service games (97%), saving 10 of 11 break points.
Djokovic's relentless desire to return every ball once again paid dividends in the second set. The US Open champion combatted Zverev's aggression with angled returns and depth on his groundstrokes to neutralise rallies, earning two further breaks of serve. The World No. 3, who began to step inside the court as the finish line approached, soon arrived at match point with his serve continuing to work at full strength. Djokovic converted his fourth match point to remain unbroken in 37 service games this week.
Did You Know?
Djokovic is currently riding a 17-match winning streak and is 26-1 since arriving at Wimbledon in July.
from Tennis - ATP World Tour https://ift.tt/2QQ4Sqp
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