Tennis-Djokovic expects endurance battle with Sinner in Shanghai final – ThePrint – ReutersFeed

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(Reuters) – Novak Djokovic expects nothing less than a titanic duel with world number one Jannik Sinner in the Shanghai Masters final on Sunday after defeating American seventh seed Taylor Fritz in the semi-finals 6-4 7-6(6).

Sinner secured top spot in the year-end ATP rankings with a 6-4, 7-5 semi-final win over 30th seed Tomas Machac of the Czech Republic in the last four of shanghai saturday

The 23-year-old Italian top seed has won three of his last four meetings with Djokovic, but the Serbian proved defiant.

“I’m in a good position to win the title, you know, against the best player in the world,” the fourth seed said on Saturday.

The 37-year-old Serbian, who had complained of pain in his left knee on Friday, said it was no longer a concern.

“I’m not going to be the favorite on court, but hopefully he can come out physically fresh enough, you know, to challenge him for what might be a long match,” Djokovic added.

It will be a rematch of this year’s Australian Open semi-final, where eventual champion Sinner ended Djokovic’s 33-match winning streak with a 6-1 6-2 6-7 victory(6) 6-3

Djokovic, who had committed 54 unforced errors, was stunned by Sinner’s performance during the three-hour, 26-minute battle in January but is confident he will prevail this time.

“I have to look forward to probably the toughest match of the tournament… He knows my game, I know his game. We haven’t played since Australia this year. I’m hoping for the best, I’ll need my highest level to win” , he added.

(Reporting by Shifa Jahan in Bangalore; Editing by Ken Ferris)

Disclaimer: This report is automatically generated from the Reuters news service. ThePrint is not responsible for its content.