World number four Novak Djokovic will face Jannik Sinner in the final of the Shanghai Masters on Sunday as he bids to win his 100th ATP title.
The Serb overcame issues with his hip to beat USA’s Taylor Fritz 6-4 7-6 (8-6) in China to set up a final with Italian Sinner, who secured the year-end world number one ranking by beating Tomas Machac 6-4 7-5 in the other semi-final.
Djokovic, 37, breezed through the first set, displaying some of his best tennis of the season.
But the 24-time Grand Slam champion’s dominance slowed in the second set as he struggled with a hip problem.
Fritz saved three break points in the fifth game of the second set, giving him a 3-2 lead.
Djokovic, who had to withdraw from this year’s French Open with a knee injury, was growing increasingly irate with the hip issue and called a medical timeout with Fritz 6-5 up.
The American sensed his opportunity to bounce back but Djokovic held serve to take the set to a tie-break.
World number seven Fritz held a 6-5 lead on serve in the tie-break but lost both of the following points, allowing Djokovic to serve out the match.
“I had some issues on the court – physically – here today but managed to overcome it,” said Djokovic.
“It always takes it out of me, particularly towards the end of the tournament and at this stage of my career I’m doing my best to recover.”
Sinner made light work of Czech 30th seed Machac to become the first Italian to reach the final in Shanghai.
The 23-year-old made just nine unforced errors as he sealed his 64th win of the year to confirm his status as the year-end number one player in the world.
“It’s amazing,” said Sinner. “It’s something you dream of when you’re a kid, when you’re young.”
Sunday’s final will be the eighth time that Djokovic has faced Sinner, having beaten the Italian on four of seven occasions.