SHANGHAI (AP) — Top-ranked Jannik Sinner will chase his seventh ATP title of the year in the Shanghai Masters final after beating Tomas Machac 6-4, 7-5 on Saturday.
Victory ensured Sinner will be the ATP year-end No. 1. He is the first Italian to achieve that feat.
His 64th match win of the year set up a final against four-time Shanghai champion Novak Djokovic or seventh-ranked Taylor Fritz.
The Italian weathered a nearly two-hour baseline storm from No. 33-ranked Machac, who beat No. 2 Carlos Alcaraz in the quarterfinals.
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Sinner has a shot at his third Masters title in 2024 following victories in Miami and Cincinnati, to go with his wins at the Australian Open and U.S. Open.
“I just tried to stay there every point, to see what was going to happen,” Sinner said. “Just playing every point with the 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 (the final), to try to find a solution somehow ...and hopefully it’s going to win the match."
Sinner fired 10 aces and 28 winners, against only seven unforced errors, in a characteristically efficient performance.
In Saturday’s other semifinal, Djokovic starts with a 9-0 head-to-head record against Fritz. It is Djokovic’s 77th Masters semifinal and Fritz’s fifth.