Novak Djokovic of Serbia was to play Milos Raonic of Canada in yesterday’s Paris Masters final after they emerged from starkly contrasting semi-finals on Saturday.
Top seed and defending champion Djokovic routed a weary Kei Nishikori of Japan 6-2, 6-3 in just 62 minutes, while seventh seed Raonic edged Tomas Berdych of the Czech Republic 6-3, 3-6, 7-5 in a clash that had looked destined for a deciding tie-break.
The two finalists have played each other three times previously, with Djokovic winning all three, the last occasion being a straight sets win in the quarter-finals of the French Open in June.
Djokovic, a two-time former champion in Paris, gained sweet revenge over Nishikori for his stunning four-sets loss to the Japanese speedster in the US Open semi-finals in September.
However, even he must have been surprised at just how easy it was as he enjoyed one-way traffic all the way apart from a brief spark of resistance from Nishikori halfway through the second set when he achieved his only break of serve.
However, the first Asian man to reach a Grand Slam singles final at least had some genuine excuses to offer up, having finished his 2 hour, 43 minutes quarter-final tie against David Ferrer after midnight on Friday.
“It was a great match,” Djokovic said of his form against Nishikori. “I haven’t dropped a set getting into the finals. I definitely feel fresh and motivated to play well tomorrow. We could see Kei wasn’t serving at his best; maybe he was fatigued from finishing late last night. Regardless, I played well and concentrated on what I needed to do. I served exceptionally well in the important moments and it’s something that encourages me for tomorrow.”
If Djokovic will be gunning for his 20th Masters Series title, 23-year-old Raonic will be playing in just his second final at that level, having lost in straight sets to Rafael Nadal on home soil at Montreal in September last year.
For Berdych, the defeat meant the Czech’s hopes of winning the Paris title for the second time after 2005 went begging. To date, that is his only Masters Series title, having lost in two finals since then.
However, both men were already assured of playing in the ATP World Tour Finals in London in just nine days time after their quarter-final wins on Friday. There, in what will be the finale to the ATP season, they will join Djokovic, Nishikori, Roger Federer, Stan Wawrinka, Andy Murray and Marin Cilic.
Taiwan’s top male badminton player, Chou Tien-chen, on Saturday bowed out in the men’s singles semi-finals at the Thailand Open after losing in straight games to Thailand’s Kunlavut Vitidsarn. The world No. 6 Chou, seeded fourth at the Super 500 tournament, lost to the world No. 2 Thai 21-7, 21-19 in 53 minutes. The victory improved Vitidsarn’s head-to-head record against Chou to 3-5. Chou, 36, trailed throughout the opening game after the score was tied 2-2. His relatively passive approach allowed the 25-year-old Thai to capitalize on Chou’s defensive clears with powerful smashes while committing few unforced errors. The Taiwanese
FRUSTRATION: Gauff smacked herself on the head with her racket before storming down the tunnel, emerging afterward to have a heated discussion with her coach Elina Svitolina on Saturday won the Italian Open after beating Coco Gauff 6-4, 6-7 (3/7), 6-2 to claim her third Rome title, while Jannik Sinner set a date with Casper Ruud in the men’s final. Ukraine’s Svitolina had not claimed a WTA 1000 title since her last victory at the Foro Italico eight years ago, but prevailed over the ever-erratic Gauff to claim her 20th tournament triumph. Saturday’s win over Gauff was her third in a row against a player in the top four of the world rankings — including Iga Swiatek and Elena Rybakina — ahead of the French
West Ham United’s 3-1 defeat at Newcastle United on Sunday left Tottenham Hotspur realistically only needing one more point to win the battle for English Premier League survival, while Bruno Fernandes made history in Manchester United’s 3-2 win over Nottingham Forest. Spurs can avoid dropping out of the English top flight for the first time in nearly 50 years with victory at Chelsea today, but a draw would also likely suffice thanks to their much superior goal-difference over West Ham. “Overall bad performance. Too many things [went wrong], I think we gifted them the goals,” West Ham head caoch Nuno Espirito Santo
Jannik Sinner has his eyes on a first Roland Garros title after winning the Italian Open on Sunday to claim a record-extending sixth consecutive Masters 1000 tournament victory. World No. 1 Sinner beat Casper Ruud 6-4, 6-4 to complete the “Golden Masters” by winning all of the ATP’s top-ranked events, in the process becoming the first Italian men’s champion in Rome since Adriano Panatta 50 years ago. Only Novak Djokovic had previously won all nine Masters 1000 events before Sunday, but there was little doubt about Sinner triumphing over the past 10 days. Sinner heads to Roland Garros, which starts at the weekend,
RSS