Federer, Djokovic storm into semis
SHANGHAI: Top seed and defending champion Roger Federer returned to form to beat Japan’s Kei Nishikori 6-4, 7-6(4) and reach the Shanghai Masters semi-finals on Friday. The 20-time Grand Slam winner has produced a series of lacklustre performances in Shanghai, his first tournament since suffering a shock fourthround defeat by John Millman at the US Open last month.
Yet he made an aggressive start against Nishikori to take a 4-1 lead in the opening set.
Federer held off a late charge from the Japanese to take the opener before recovering from a 4-1 deficit in the second set tiebreak to seal victory.
The 37-year-old will next face Croatian power-hitter Borna Coric, who dumped Australia’s Matthew Ebden out of the tournament 7-5, 6-4. Coric beat Federer in the Halle final in their last meeting earlier this year.
Earlier in the day, three-time Shanghai champion Novak Djokovic extended his winning streak to 16 matches after beating South African Kevin Anderson 7-6(1) 6-3, edging the Serb closer to the world number two ranking. Djokovic, who has won the last two Slams, at Wimbledon and the US Open, is currently world No 3, but could move up a spot if he books a place in Sunday’s final.
ZVEREV RIDICULES OVERUSE OF TOWELS
SHANGHAI: Zverev weighed in on the debate about players’ use of towels Friday, saying those who wipe down after every point are “ridiculous” and do it for superstition, not sweat. There has been much discussion at the Shanghai Masters this week about the issue after Fernando Verdasco berated a ball boy at the Shenzhen Open for failing to bring his towel fast enough.
“There are some players — some American players, some other players — that go for the towel literally after every single point,” said the 21-year-old German prodigy Zverev.
“That’s a bit ridiculous, in my perspective. You serve an ace or a double fault, or your opponent serves an ace, and the poor ball kid has to keep running for the towel just because it’s a superstition and it’s not a use because you’re sweating too much or something like that. “