Djokovic seeks 5th title in Paris
Injury blighted Rafael Nadal again as he pulled out of his Paris Masters semifinal on Saturday, meaning top-ranked Novak Djokovic will go for his fifth title at the indoor tournament against Denis Shapovalov.
Fans hopeful of seeing a 55th career matchup between Nadal and Djokovic in Sunday’s final were disappointed to learn, moments before the second semifinal was scheduled to begin, that Nadal withdrew because of an abdominal injury. The same injury forced Nadal out just before the start of last year’s tournament at Bercy Arena and ended his season.
“I went through this in the past, so that’s why the recommendation of the doctors [was] to not play,” Nadal said. “I have to take that decision.”
The second-ranked Spaniard said he felt the injury flare up in the morning as he practiced a few hours before facing the 20-yearold Canadian. A scan revealed a small strain.
Nadal returned to practice and still felt pain serving. He decided it wasn’t worth risking a bigger injury.
Last year, Nadal missed the season-ending ATP Finals in London because of the abdominal injury, but hopes he can recover in time for this year’s finals starting on Nov. 10.
“I hope to be ready for London, that’s the biggest goal now,” he said. “I will do all what’s possible to recover for it.”
Earlier, Djokovic reached his sixth Paris Masters final beating Grigor Dimitrov 7-6 (7-5), 6-4.
He is aiming for a 77th career title and has a 3-0 record against Shapovalov.
• Elsewhere: Top-ranked Ash Barty advanced to the final of the WTA Finals at Shenzhen, China, where she faces defending champion Elina Svitolina, a player she has never beaten in five previous attempts. Barty, like Svitolina, dropped the opening set of her semifinal before beating secondranked Karolina Pliskova of Czech Republic 4-6, 6-2, 6-3. Belinda Bencic retired in the third set as Svitolina outlasted the injured Swiss to win 5-7, 6-3, 4-1 and reach her second straight final at the WTA Finals.
ETC.
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• MLB: Former big league players Ken Harrelson and Mike Shannon are among the eight finalists for the Ford Frick Award for excellence in baseball broadcasting, presented annually by the Hall of Fame.
• Figure skating: Alena Kostornaia left no doubt there’s a new era in women’s figure skating by a convincing win over Olympic gold medalist Alina Zagitova at the Internationaux de France at Grenoble, France, while Nathan Chen won the men’s event. Mariah Bell took bronze for the United States on 212.89.
• Olympics: Enriqueta Basilio, 71, a Mexican sprinter who at the 1968 Summer Games in Mexico City became the first woman to light the Olympic flame, died Oct. 26. The Mexican Olympic Committee did not specify where she died or the cause.