Novak rises to the top
Sunday Mail 55
Novak Djokovic ruined Roger Federer’s ambitions of a 100th career title as he outlasted his great rival 7- 6(6) 5-7 7- 6(3) in an epic Paris Masters semi-final on Saturday.
In a 47th meeting between the two greats, Djokovic refused to be beaten as he eked out a fourth successive victory over Federer in a tiebreak decider after three compelling hours.
The Serbian can now mark his return to world number one on Monday by winning a record- extending fifth Paris title in Sunday’s final against Russian Karen Khachanov, who earlier crushed Dominic Thiem 6- 4 6-1.
Djokovic, who competed with flu-like symptoms in his previous matches this week, looked proud and relieved to see off Federer, who played close to his best.
Even though his serve wasn’t broken once, the 37-year- old Swiss’ nerve failed him in the final set tiebreak in which he served a double fault and made two more careless groundstroke errors.
Federer was seeking to become only the second man after Jimmy Connors to win a century of professional tour titles following his 99th win in Basel last week but fell agonisingly short.
The 20-time Grand Slam champion lost the first set despite having held set point in the tiebreak.
He had Djokovic in trouble in the final set when the Serb received a code violation at 4- 4 for chucking his racket away in disgust after the Swiss had saved two break points.
Federer’s resilience ended as Djokovic extended his career lead over the Swiss to 25-22 after their longest- ever three-set duel.
It was the first time in their 12 years of battling that Djokovic has won four matches in succession against Federer.
Earlier, Karen Khachanov showed why he’s one of the finest young talents in tennis with a thunderous victory over Dominic Thiem.
The 22-year-old Russian moved one step away from the biggest title of his career, crushing his Austrian friend and practice partner in 70 minutes.
Khachanov, who has already won two indoor hard court titles this year, said: “It was one of my best matches and I kept increasing my level, which shows that I’m becoming a better player.”