Coric quashes dream final plans
Djokovic downs Zverev in his 1,000th career match, will move to second in rankings
Shanghai, Oct. 13: Roger Federer admitted that he was lacking “punch” after he was turfed out of the Shanghai Masters semi- finals on Saturday by 13th- seeded Borna Coric. The Croatian stunned the Swiss great 6- 4, 6- 4 in what was an unusually error- strewn performance from the 20- time Grand Slam champion.
The 21- year- old Coric will face Novak Djokovic in Sunday’s final after the Serb thrashed Alexander Zverev 6- 2, 6- 1, leapfrogging Federer to number two in the world rankings.
Federer has not been at his best all week, dropping sets in the two opening matches of his wobbly title defence.
The 37- year- old top seed was more like his old self on Friday, defeating eighth seed Kei Nishikori in two high- quality sets. But he made a slow start against Coric, ranked 19 in the world, getting broken in the first game.
There was a subtle shake of the head when Federer similarly lost his serve at the start of the second set.
“I thought he was better, I think he had more punch on the ball. He served better,” said Federer, proclaiming himself pleased overall with his form.
In contrast, Coric — who is into his first Masters 1000 final — was largely untroubled on his serve.
Coric, who has only two career titles to his name, has now beaten Federer twice — the previous time was in the final at Halle this year.
Celebrating his 1,000th match in style, the 14- time Grand Slam winner Djokovic was clinical against a shell- shocked Zverev. The 31- year- old is in imperious form and this was his 17th ATP victory in a row, as he taught the rising German star a lesson.
Djokovic will be up to second in the world when the new rankings are released on Monday, but he is desperate to take injured Rafael Nadal’s number one spot before the year is out.
PLISKOVA VS GARCIA
Top- seeded Karolina Pliskova will be looking for her second title of the WTA’s Asian swing when she plays second- seeded Caroline Garcia of France in the Tianjin Open final on Sunday.
Pliskova, playing on a wild card, needed only an hour to beat Timea Bascinszky 6- 2, 6- 1 in one of Saturday’s semi- finals. It was Pliskova’s fourth consecutive win in the last two years over Bascinszky, who is returning from a long layoff with a right leg injury. Garcia moved into the final with a 6- 3, 6- 4 win over fifth- seeded Hsieh.
WANG DOWNS SVITOLINA
In Hong Kong, Chinese number one Wang Qiang wrapped up the biggest win of her season Saturday, after an overnight rain delay forced her to wait to claim victory over world number five Elina Svitolina at the Hong Kong Open.
She needed just 10 minutes on court to end the Ukrainian’s resistance, sealing the 6- 2, 6- 4 quarter final win with an ace.
Being number two after this tournament is also a great achievement, considering the first four, five months of the year and considering I had the surgery. And where I was about four months ago and where I am today is quite an extreme opposite. — NOVAK DJOKOVIC