Novak Djokovic and Jannik Sinner reach Shanghai Masters final; Sabalenka rallies over Gauff at Wuhan

vak Djokovic overcame physical discomfort to beat Taylor Fritz 6-4, 7-6 (6) and move closer to a 100th career title and a record-extending fifth at Shanghai Masters on Saturday.

By also reaching final, top-ranked Jannik Sinner ensured he will be ATP year-end . 1 and first Italian to achieve that feat.

“(I’ve won) many titles, h great battles and great performances,” 37-year-old Djokovic said. “I did come here definitely with a vision and a desire to get to final and fight for a 100th title. I get that chance against best player in world, and let’s see what happens.”

Fellow great Roger Federer has 103 titles and Jimmy Conrs les men with 109 in Open era.

Top-ranked Jannik Sinner will chase his seventh ATP title of year after beating Tomas Machac 6-4, 7-5.

Djokovic improved to 10-0 in career matches against Fritz, who blew a 5-3 le in second-set tiebreaker and a set point at 6-5 up.

Djokovic was clearly struggling for mobility and balance with his left knee heavily strapped.

“It always takes it out of me, se kinds of battles, but particularly towards end of tournament,” Djokovic said. “At this st of my career, I’m doing my best to recover and I h some issues here and re on court, physically.”

But U.S. Open runner-up Fritz could t take vant.

He lost a long rally at 6-6 and succumbed on first match point when Djokovic stabbed a volley at net and American flicked it just long at full stretch.

Djokovic les 4-3 overall against Sinner, who has won last two — including in Australian Open semifinals.

Earlier, Sinner weared a nearly two-hour baseline storm from . 33-ranked Machac, who beat . 2 Carlos Alcaraz in quarterfinals.

Italian has a shot at his third Masters title in 2024 following victories in Miami and Cincinnati, to go with his wins at Australian Open and U.S. Open.

“I just tried to stay re every point, to see what was going to happen,” Sinner said. “Just playing every point with maximum intensity I could, so I’m very happy about that. I’m happy to be back in a final again.

“I’m just looking forward to ( final), to try to find a solution somehow ... and hopefully it’s going to win match.”

Sinner fired 10 aces and 28 winners, against only seven unforced errors, in a characteristically efficient performance for his 64th match win this year.

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.”