World No. 1 Novak Djokovic of Serbia survived a second-set blip to reach the Paris Masters final with a 6-3, 3-6, 6-0 win over Stan Wawrinka of Switzerland on Saturday — his 21st victory in a row.
Djokovic, looking to become the first man to win six Masters titles in a season, briefly lost focus as Wawrinka, who beat Djokovic in the French Open final, ended his 29-set winning streak to claim the second set.
However, the fourth seed, who knocked out Rafael Nadal in a late thriller the night before, was made to pay as he lost the last six games to a relentless Djokovic.
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Britain’s Murray beat David Ferrer of Spain 6-4, 6-3.
Djokovic was in a class of his own in the first set as Wawrinka made too many unforced errors.
However, the Swiss loosened up in the second set as Djokovic failed to contain his frustration.
It was only a minor disruption though for the 10-time grand slam champion, who allowed Davis Cup winner Wawrinka a mere nine points in the decider.
Wawrinka bowed out with a long forehand, and said the quick turnaround after a 1am finish against Nadal had hurt him.
“It was tough the next day to play against Novak, who is very difficult to play in those conditions,” Wawrinka said. “Of course I felt the tiredness. It was extremely tough for me to fight.”
Second seed Murray lost his focus at times against Ferrer, but had too much guile for the 2012 Bercy champion.
Murray made a dream start, breaking to love in the first game, but the Spaniard leveled for 3-3 when two Murray unforced errors gave him a break in the sixth game.
In a seesaw opening set, Ferrer set up four more break points in the eighth game, but Murray saved them all and stole the serve of the Spaniard, who made a string of unforced errors.
The Scot finished a superb exchange at the net with a fine sliced lob to set up two set points and on the first one Ferrer netted a routine backhand.
Ferrer got straight back down to business and raced to a 3-1 lead in the second set, but Murray then reeled off five games in a row.
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