ADVERTISEMENT
Djokovic beats Dimitrov to reach Paris Masters final
AFP
Last Updated IST
Serbia's Novak Djokovic celebrates winning a point against Bulgaria's Grigor Dimitrov during their men's singles semi-final tennis match at the ATP World Tour Masters 1000 - Rolex Paris Masters - indoor tennis tournament at The AccorHotels Arena in Paris on November 2, 2019. AFP
Serbia's Novak Djokovic celebrates winning a point against Bulgaria's Grigor Dimitrov during their men's singles semi-final tennis match at the ATP World Tour Masters 1000 - Rolex Paris Masters - indoor tennis tournament at The AccorHotels Arena in Paris on November 2, 2019. AFP

Novak Djokovic saw off Grigor Dimitrov in the Paris Masters last four on Saturday to set up a potential final against Rafael Nadal -- his rival for the year-end world number one spot.

Top seed Djokovic came through a dramatic first-set tie-break before prevailing 7-6 (7/5), 6-4 to move to the brink of a record-extending fifth Bercy title.

The 32-year-old will face either Nadal, who can secure the end-of-year top ranking by winning the tournament, or Canadian youngster Denis Shapovalov in Sunday's final.

ADVERTISEMENT

It will be the 50th Masters final of Djokovic's career and his sixth in Paris, having lost to Russian Karen Khachanov in last year's championship match.

The 16-time Grand Slam champion is bidding for his fifth title of the season ahead of the ATP Tour Finals in London, which starts on November 10, where he will be hoping to equal Pete Sampras' record of finishing six years as the world number one.

Djokovic leads his storied rivalry with Nadal by 28 wins to 26, and has beaten 20-year-old Shapovalov in all three of their previous meetings.

ADVERTISEMENT
(Published 02 November 2019, 20:31 IST)