World No. 1 Novak Djokovic yesterday cruised into the Japan Open final, thrashing David Goffin 6-3, 6-4.
Djokovic faces Australian qualifier John Millman in the final after he squeezed past American Reilly Opelka 6-3, 7-6 (7/4).
The Serbian star dominated his semi-final, starting strong by winning the first three games and picking up an early break while fending off fierce attempts by the Belgian to fight back.
Photo: AFP
Djokovic again picked up an early break in the second set and survived all four break points he faced.
He won points on 87 percent of his successful first serves and never committed a double fault in the roughly 90-minute contest.
Goffin fought bravely, but Djokovic kept up the pressure with deep shots and quick footwork to fend off any threat.
Photo: AP
“I trained with ninjas before this tournament,” Djokovic quipped, when asked about his apparent omnipresence on the court during a post-match interview in front of cheering fans.
“This has been a wonderful week for me on and off the court,” Djokovic said.
“Hopefully I will be able to crown this week with a trophy tomorrow [today],” he said.
CHINA OPEN
Ashleigh Barty is to play Caroline Wozniacki or Naomi Osaka in the China Open final today after the world No. 1 squeezed through in three tense sets against Kiki Bertens yesterday.
The Australian committed 52 unforced errors, but still just about emerged victorious, saving match point in a nervy 6-3, 3-6, 7-6 (9/7) victory in Beijing.
The 23-year-old Barty looked all set to rush into the final and dominated the first set against a shell-shocked Bertens, but the 27-year-old Dutchwoman struck back to win the second set of their semi-final by the same 6-3 scoreline and take the match to a decider.
They went with serve until the fifth game of the third set, when Bertens, ranked eighth in the world, profited from another Barty error to go a break up.
However, Bertens lost her nerve when serving for the match, the momentum swinging back in Barty’s favor. Barty went down 3-1 in the tiebreak, but overcame the deficit to seal victory.
Defending champion Wozniacki beat Daria Kasatkina 6-3, 7-6 (7/5) in the quarter-finals on Friday and played Naomi Osaka yesterday, with the semi-final ongoing as of press time last night.
Osaka advanced after ousting Bianca Andreescu 5-7, 6-3, 6-4.
In the men’s draw, Dominic Thiem faces either Stefanos Tsitsipas or Alexander Zverev in today’s final after defeating Karen Khachanov 2-6, 7-6 (9/7), 7-5 in their semi-final yesterday.
The Tsitsipas-Zverev semi was to begin after press time last night.
Andy Murray’s run ended after the former No. 1 lost to Thiem 6-2, 7-6 (7/3) in the quarter-finals on Friday.
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