Tennis: Djokovic virtually assures year-end top ranking for sixth time

VIENNA, Austria -- Novak Djokovic virtually ensured equalling Pete Sampras's record of ending the year as world number one for the sixth time on Wednesday when he reached the Vienna ATP quarter-finals.

Djokovic defeated Croatia's Borna Coric 7-6 (13/11), 6-3 and will secure the year-end top spot as long as Rafael Nadal does not take an unlikely wild card into the Sofia event next month.

If the 33-year-old Serb wins the Vienna title on Sunday, he will make sure of the landmark regardless of whether or not Nadal plays in Bulgaria.

Djokovic, who now has 39 wins and just two defeats in 2020, has been the top-ranked player at the end of a season five times: in 2011, 2012, 2014, 2015 and 2018.

He shares that mark with career rivals Roger Federer and Nadal.

Sampras achieved the feat six years in succession between 1993 and 1998.

"Sampras was my childhood idol growing up and it will be amazing to tie his record by being the year-end world number one six times," Djokovic said on Sunday.

Djokovic also has another target -- beating Federer's all-time best of 310 weeks spent on top of the rankings.

He is currently enjoying his 292nd week in total as world number one.

Should he stay in pole position, he will pass Federer in early March 2021.

Djokovic, a 17-time Grand Slam title winner, is playing his first tournament since his straight sets loss to Nadal in the Roland Garros final over two weeks ago.

He is seeking a fifth title of the year and next faces either Poland's Hubert Hurkacz or Italian lucky loser Lorenzo Sonego.

"It was very tiring and very challenging," said Djokovic after his fourth win in four meetings with Coric, the world number 24.

"Borna is a great fighter. He's a very good friend of mine. Off the court we've known each other for quite a long time."

Djokovic came through having saved four set points in the opener.

"He has kind of a similar style of tennis as I do. From the backhand corner he's very solid and is trying to create points with his forehand. 

"He was serving very well, especially in the first set. It was very difficult for me to return his serve."

Elsewhere, third seed Stefanos Tsitsipas opened his Vienna campaign with a 6-7 (3/7), 6-3, 6-4 win over Germany's Jan-Lennard Struff.

The reigning ATP Finals champion will face Grigor Dimitrov for a place in the last eight.

Russian fourth seed Daniil Medvedev also progressed with a 6-3, 6-1 win over Taiwanese lucky loser Jason Jung.

Agence France-Presse

Tennis: Djokovic dismisses Del Potro to win U.S. Open

NEW YORK - A clinical Novak Djokovic dismissed Juan Martin Del Potro 6-3 7-6(4) 6-3 to collect his third U.S. Open title on Sunday, giving him 14 Grand Slams to move into a tie for third on the all-time list alongside Pete Sampras.

A gloomy season that started with elbow surgery following the Australian Open is turning into a brilliant finish for the 31-year-old Serb who has now won three of his last four events including back-to-back majors at Wimbledon and Flushing Meadows.

Over the last eight weeks Djokovic has resembled the Grand Slam machine that held all four major titles at the same time in 2016.

Playing on the same court where Pete Sampras claimed his 14th title, Djokovic has endured more disappointment than joy on Arthur Ashe, mining just three titles from eight finals.

The disappointment on Sunday belonged to a teary Del Potro who was back in a Grand Slam final for the first time since the big Argentine won his one and only title at Flushing Meadows in 2009.

source: news.abs-cbn.com

Nadal bids to tie Sampras, Swiss Stan in the way

MELBOURNE - Rafael Nadal will look to give Stanislas Wawrinka a rough welcome to his first Grand Slam final as he bids to tie Pete Sampras with 14 major titles at the Australian Open on Sunday.

American great Sampras will present the winner's trophy, with the Spanish marvel an overwhelming favourite to vanquish the popular and constantly improving Swiss for the year's opening Slam title.

World number one Nadal has yet to drop a set in 12 encounters with Wawrinka, who knocked over three-time defending champion Novak Djokovic and world number seven Tomas Berdych to reach the final.

Nadal again mastered his long-time rival Roger Federer in the semi-finals -- a result which installed Wawrinka as Swiss number one -- to reach his third Australian final as he seeks to add his 2009 triumph.

Victory would also make Nadal only the third man, after Australians Roy Emerson and Rod Laver, to have won each of the four Grand Slam titles twice.

It is hard to see past Nadal winning, even though Wawrinka is playing the best tennis of his life, good enough to take him past close friend Federer in the new world rankings out next week.

Nadal, at 27 years, would become the youngest man in history to win 14 Grand Slams, eclipsing Federer's corresponding feat at Roland Garros in 2009 by 66 days.

Sampras, who was 31 when he reached his 14 Slams, admires Nadal's extraordinary athleticism and strength to stand out in an era dominated by the 'Big Four' -- Nadal, Djokovic, Federer and Andy Murray.

"He's a great athlete. Rafa's game is not suited to grass, but he's done well there. He's an incredible mover. He's a great player," Sampras said in Melbourne this week.

Nadal won't sell Wawrinka short in Sunday's final, saying that past matches mean little in the context of a high-pressure major final.

"For me, if you play in a Grand Slam final that's a different kind of match than I played against him in the past," he said.

"He's playing better than ever. He's a player that is ready to win against everybody. If I don't play my best tennis, I am sure that he will win three sets against me."

But Nadal added ominously: "I am moving quick. I am able to come back from difficult situations with great shots and am able to keep producing power on the shot from very difficult positions."

While Wawrinka faces a tough task to grab his first ever win over Nadal in a Grand Slam final, the Swiss is confident of his ability under Swedish coach Magnus Norman.

Also in Wawrinka's favour is that Norman was the coach of Robin Soderling when the Swede upset Nadal at the 2009 French Open, the eight-time winner's last defeat at his favourite Grand Slam.

"The record is not what I'm looking at. That's what it is against Rafa. I don't care about having lost 14 times," he said.

"But it's more about playing Rafa. He's the number one, the best player. His game is quite tough for me, especially with the one-hand backhand. But I had some good matches against him last year, close ones. I will have a few things that I will try tomorrow.

"I'm playing my best tennis here, I'm physically ready. I'm going to try everything. Before I beat Djokovic it was the same. I had lost 14 times to him before that.

"I'm always trying and I always think that I can change all the statistics, that's a positive."

It's been a long time coming for Wawrinka to play in his first major final in his 36th Grand Slam. For Nadal, it will be his 19th Slam final, with a win-loss record of 13-5.

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com