Roger Federer’s ouster in the Shanghai Masters semi-finals took some sheen off the final. Fans were expecting to be treated to a Roger Federer vs Novak Djokovic blockbuster but Borna Coric had other ideas. The 13th-seeded Croatian conquered the Swiss maestro in straight sets on Saturday to book a final clash against Djokovic. Coric, however, didn’t disappoint and put up a gritty performance in the final. But Djokovic is on a roll and continued his fine form by dismantling his opponent 6-3, 6-4. During the match, there was a point which had fans on the edge of their seats.
In the fourth game of the opening set with Coric serving to make it 2-2, the Croatian and his Serbian opponent put on an exhibition and battled it out for the point.
The rally ended with Coric hitting a down-the-line backhand winner that Djokovic had no chance of retrieving.
Hold onto your hats. These rallies are.
Watch live: https://t.co/hOHmv2wMlX#RolexSHMasters pic.twitter.com/Qwz34b4Ylt
— Tennis TV (@TennisTV) October 14, 2018
The win took Djokovic is within touching distance of Rafael Nadal’s number one ranking.
The 31-year-old will leapfrog Roger Federer into second in the world when the rankings are released on Monday and is in imperious form as the season reaches its climax.
Red-hot Djokovic has now been victorious in 18 ATP matches in a row and in recent months won Wimbledon, the Cincinnati Masters, the US Open and now Shanghai.
The last four months had been “fantastic” and “tremendous”, he said.
“I’m cherishing every moment of it,” he told the crowd, calling Shanghai “a special place” to him.
“I could not ask for a better scenario,” Djokovic said of his late surge to the summit of men’s tennis.
(With inputs from AFP)
