Jannik Sinner beats Novak Djokovic to take Shanghai Masters title

Top-ranked Jannik Sinner beat vak Djokovic in straight sets to win Shanghai Masters on Sunday.

Italian bettered 24-time Grand Slam champion 7-6 (4), 6-3.

Sinner hit eight aces and 22 winners to four and 12, respectively, for Djokovic. Sinner never faced a break point.

Djokovic was aiming for his 100th tour-level title. Only Jimmy Conrs with 109 titles and Roger Federer with 103 have hit century mark in men's tennis.

Wuhan Open Second-ranked Aryna Sabalenka rallied from a slow start to beat an in-form Coco Gauff 1-6, 6-4, 6-4 in semifinals to vance to her third straight Wuhan final and preserve her perfect record at tournament.

Sabalenka will face seventh-ranked Zheng Qinwen in final. Paris Olympics champion beat . 51-ranked Wang Xinyu 6-3, 6-4. Sabalenka will be bidding for her fourth title of season, which includes Australian Open and U.S. Open.

Belarussian's 16th straight victory at Wuhan ended Gauff's own recent win streak at nine, including China Open title last week. But it looked anything but certain for Sabalenka as she crashed 6-1 in opening set.

"In first set she was just crushing it,” Sabalenka said. “Whatever she was doing, everything was flying in. Everything was so aggressive. I didn't have much opportunities.” In a fight between last two U.S. Open champions, Gauff led by a break early in second but Sabalenka responded to pull level at 4-4 and saved a break point on serve to take a 5-4 le.

Serving to stay in set, Gauff was broken as Sabalenka hit a lunging forehand volley to force a deciding set.

Belarussian carried her momentum into third, extending her streak to seven games for a 3-0 le. Gauff fought back to level at 4-4, but Sabalenka held strong to halt Gauff's run.

Sabalenka broke once more after Gauff hit her season-worst 21st double fault on match point, ending 2 1/2-hour match.

“I kw what she's going through. This is really difficult,” said Sabalenka, who h issues on her serve in past. "But I kw that if she'll be able to overcome this serve situation, I'm pretty sure she's going to be one of greatest players.”