Tennis: Djokovic eases past Goffin to set up Tokyo final with Millman

World number one Novak Djokovic eased past Belgian third seed David Goffin 6-3 6-4 at the Japan Open in Tokyo on Saturday to book his place in Sunday's final against John Millman.

Djokovic beat Goffin in one hour and 29 minutes, extending his head-to-head record against the 2017 champion to seven wins, and will now face Australia's Millman who beat American Reilly Opelka in the other semi-final.

Top seeded Djokovic hit seven aces and won 87% of his first-service points against Goffin in the Serb's first tournament since withdrawing from the U.S. Open fourth round with a shoulder injury.

"I'm very satisfied with the way I've been playing the whole week," Djokovic said. "It's been a very positive week on the court, off the week as well. Hopefully I'll be able to crown it tomorrow with a trophy.

"Obviously he was in good form and played really well against Chung yesterday in the quarters.

"The conditions are playing quick here. The surface doesn't bounce that much, so you've got to be very low and quick on return as well. It definitely was not easy when both of us were serving well."

Djokovic has dominated opponents in Tokyo and is yet to drop a set in the tournament and the 16-times Grand Slam champion needed only two breaks of serve to win in straight sets and reach his fifth final of the season.

Earlier, Millman took down Opelka 6-3 7-6(4) to reach his first ever ATP 500 final.

Big-serving Opelka fired 13 aces but could not convert either of his two break points while Millman needed only one break of serve in the opening set before winning the second in the tiebreak.

"That was a pretty good match, it's always difficult playing against someone like Reilly who has got such a massive serve," Millman said. "I was really happy to take the few little chances I had and took care of my own service games pretty well.

"I get to play a final of an ATP 500 in such a special place like Tokyo. For me, that's why you play. That's why you go through the graft and some of the tougher times, to give yourself an opportunity like this. It's pretty special." 

(Reporting by Arjun Panchadar in Bengaluru; editing by Amlan Chakraborty)

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Pouille wraps up 10th Davis Cup title for France

LILLE, France - France won their 10th Davis Cup title when Lucas Pouille crushed Steve Darcis 6-3 6-1 6-0 to give the hosts a 3-2 victory in the final against neighbors Belgium on Sunday.

Pouille was never threatened in the decisive rubber after David Goffin had given Belgium both their points with impressive displays in the singles.

Les Bleus, however, had more strength in depth, winning a singles match through Jo-Wilfried Tsonga on Friday and Saturday's doubles with Richard Gasquet and Pierre-Hugues Herbert.

It was their first title since they beat Australia away in 2001 before three defeats in the final - in 2002, 2010 and 2014 - while Belgium have yet to win the title, having now lost three finals after defeats in 1904 and 2015.

Yannick Noah, the last Frenchman to win a grand slam title, celebrated his third Davis Cup success as captain after leading France to victory in 1991 and 1996.

"It was a victory we had been dreaming off," said Noah. "It's a united group. It was a tough weekend against a good Belgian team. Lucas played a fantastic final match."

Belgium captain Johan Van Herck added: "I would not change anything. We have regrets about losing, it's normal that we are disappointed after a tough weekend. In sports it's never nice to be second".

STRAIGHT SETS

Goffin gave the visitors a 1-0 lead by beating Pouille in the opening singles before Tsonga levelled by defeating Darcis on Friday, the number ones both prevailing in straight sets.

France took the lead thanks to the pairing of Gasquet and Herbert, who had never played a competitive match together but beat Ruben Bemelmans and Joris De Loore in four sets.

Goffin was again a notch above the rest on Sunday, levelling the tie at 2-2 against Tsonga with a 7-6(5) 6-3 6-2 win as the world number seven sent the tie into a decider.

The final match was anti-climactic as Pouille went for the throat, racing to a 3-0 lead against Darcis, who never seemed to stand a chance on the indoor hardcourt even if he had won all of his five matches in the competition before.

World number 18 Pouille, who was born 75 km from Lille, held serve to take the first set and never looked back, claiming 12 games in a row and closing it out on the first match point when a sorry Darcis sent a shot long.

"There's nothing more beautiful than winning as a team in front of my friends and family. Now we're going to celebrate and enjoy it," said Pouille.

(Reporting by Julien Pretot; Editing by Clare Fallon and Ken Ferris)

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Tennis: Federer serene as pretenders dream at ATP Finals

LONDON - Roger Federer will walk out on court for his 14th semi at the ATP Finals against David Goffin on Saturday as the hot favourite, with the Swiss veteran bidding for a seventh end-of-season title.

In the absence of Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray, the event at London's O2 Arena was billed as a potential showdown between Federer and Rafael Nadal, until the Spanish world number one was forced out by injury.

Nadal's withdrawal -- after a punishing three-set defeat by Goffin -- has given a rather lopsided look to the tournament, with Federer facing Goffin in the semis and, if he wins, either Grigor Dimitrov or Jack Sock in the final.

Federer, who has had an extraordinary season since returning to the Tour after a long lay-off in 2016, will not be losing too much sleep over his opponent, whom he has beaten six times out of six, conceding just two sets in those matches.

In fact he has never lost a single match to any of the remaining players in the competition.

The world number two, who has won the ATP Finals a record six times, but not since 2011, said he was relishing his success at the age of 36, but it felt different from his early days.

"In the beginning it was like being a kid in a candy store, sharing the locker room with legends of the game, seeing them prepare, being able to practise with them, playing doubles with or against them," he said. "Special times."

"I'm very calm," Federer added. "But there's a deeper understanding of what I'm going through. So maybe the satisfaction is when I do win and I do show up at the best tournaments in the world, like here, I know it's not normal maybe to be here, so I appreciate it actually maybe even more so now at this age."

For his part, Goffin, who reached the semis after thumping his good friend Dominic Thiem on Friday, is not going into the match full of confidence, despite his victory against Nadal earlier in the week.

"Honestly, I don't know what to do tomorrow," said the 26-year-old Belgian. "But I'm going to try something, something different, something that I've never done in the past."

REVITALIZED DIMITROV

In the other semi-final on Saturday, a revitalised Dimitrov takes on American surprise package Jack Sock, who reached the ATP Finals courtesy of victory at the Paris Masters earlier this month and finished behind Federer in the Boris Becker group.

Dimitrov, 26, topped the Pete Sampras group after an impressive week that included a tight three-set win against Austria's Thiem and a thumping victory against Goffin, punch-drunk after his victory against Nadal.

The sixth-seeded Bulgarian, long touted as a potential member of tennis's elite group, has enjoyed the best season of his career, winning three titles including the Cincinnati Masters.

"I've worked a lot on and off the court," he said. "I felt I've been pretty consistent, playing well. Yeah, I think just a little bit of everything.

"I think every small success we're trying to build on and build on. That's why you're here on that stage right now, because this is what you deserve. Also you get what you put in."

American number one Sock has enjoyed a fairytale few weeks, following up his victory in Paris by beating Wimbledon finalist Marin Cilic and shocking world number three Alexander Zverev in London to reach the last four.

"I didn't expect to be in London in the first place," said the 25-year-old. "To be here was a good achievement given the way my second half of the year was going. Paris was a big step for me.

"Now to put myself in the position to play on the weekend is another big step forward, another confidence booster."

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Goffin puts Nadal out of his misery, Dimitrov wins

LONDON - The spirit was as strong as ever but Rafael Nadal's troublesome knee failed him in the end as the Spaniard quit the ATP Finals after a painful defeat by Belgium's David Goffin on Monday.

Nadal, at 31 the oldest player to finish a year ranked number one, fought until the last point, saving four match points in a compelling Pete Sampras Group clash, before losing 7-6(5) 6-7(4) 6-4 in two hours and 37 minutes.

World number eight Goffin, the first player from Belgium to qualify for the year-ending tournament in its 48-year history, was a bundle of nerves at times but finally steadied himself to put Nadal out of his misery with his 14th ace.

Nadal could be seen grimacing as the match wore on, especially when he was forced wide or low, but he still managed to scrap his way back from 4-1 down in the decider, despite apparently playing on one leg.

Minutes after defeat, the 16-times grand slam champion told reporters that he was pulling out of the tournament.

"My season is finished. I had a commitment with the event, with the city, with myself. I tried hard. I did the thing that I had to do to try to be ready to play," Nadal, whose right knee flared up at the recent Paris Masters, said.

The Mallorcan, whose career has been plagued by tendonitis, made a stunning comeback from a wrist injury this year when he reached the Australian Open final, then claimed a 10th French Open title after a three-year grand slam drought.

He then went on to win the U.S. Open and reclaim the world's top ranking for the first time since 2014.

"I really believed that I don't deserve after this great season to spend two more days on court with this terrible feeling, that's all," said Nadal, who will now try to recover for the start of next season.

NIMBLE BELGIAN

Goffin completed a great day for first-time qualifiers after Bulgarian Grigor Dimitrov prevailed in a superb tussle with Austrian Dominic Thiem at the 02 Arena.

It was a shame that his first win against a world number one was overshadowed by Nadal's misfortune because the nimble Belgian thoroughly deserved his win, even if he nearly blew it.

"It's the best win of my career," Goffin, who will lead Belgium in the David Cup final against France, said. "It was tough even if he was not moving 100 percent."

Goffin was the better player throughout. He broke Nadal's serve twice in the first set, only to hand back the advantage on both occasions with lame double-faults.

A crunching forehand winner at 5-5 in the tiebreak earned him a set point and Nadal then dumped a backhand into the net.

Another clean winner gave him a 5-3 lead in the second set but again he double-faulted when serving for the match.

His first match point arrived in the next game but he missed a forehand. Goffin had three more when Nadal served at 5-6, 0-40 but the Spaniard produced two magical winners to stay alive before rolling through the tiebreak.

Goffin broke twice to take control of the decider and withstood Nadal's last stand to claim victory.

Earlier Dimitrov beat Thiem 6-3 5-7 7-5 in the so-called "battle of the backhands" despite some late jitters.

The world number six served for the match at 5-4 in the decider but was broken to love before two consecutive double faults by Thiem gave him another chance to close it out.

Again Dimitrov wobbled, squandering two match points at 40-15 with a double-fault and a tight forehand error, but he finally bagged the win when Thiem looped a backhand long.

(Reporting by Martyn Herman, editing by Pritha Sarkar / Ian Ransom)

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Nadal reaches Monte Carlo final after controversial umpire call

MONTE CARLO - Rafa Nadal stayed on course for a record-extending 10th Monte Carlo Masters title when the Spaniard beat David Goffin 6-3 6-1 in the semi-finals after the Belgian was denied a key point in controversial fashion on Saturday.

The 10th-seeded Goffin was 3-2 up and on game point when chair umpire Cedric Mourier ruled a Nadal shot was in but the Hawkeye system, which is not being used by officials on clay, showed the ball was long.

The point was replayed and fourth seed Nadal went on to break back before winning 10 of the remaining 11 games to set up a meeting with fellow Spaniard Albert Ramos in Sunday's final after the 15th seed beat France's Lucas Pouille 6-3 5-7 6-1.

The Monte Carlo Country Club crowd booed Mourier and a dejected Goffin did not shake the umpire's hand at the end of the match.

"I imagine the ball was out but I was on the other side, I could not see the mark," said Nadal, who will play his 11th Monte Carlo final on Sunday.

Goffin made a brilliant start, playing aggressively and breaking in the third game as nine-times French Open champion Nadal looked clumsy.

The fourth-seeded Spaniard returned long on game point in the sixth game and the line umpire called the ball out but he was over-ruled by Mourier, who got off his chair to show Goffin a mark -- the wrong one.

"It's wrong, it's wrong," said Goffin, who eventually lost the 17-minute game after wasting other game points.

The Belgian never recovered and Nadal blazed through the rest of the match, which he won in less than an hour.

Earlier, claycourt specialist Ramos, who beat world number one Andy Murray and fifth seed Marin Cilic en route to the semi-finals, survived the loss of the second set to down the 11th-seeded Pouille.

"I'm really happy, as you can imagine. On Monday I was not expecting such a week, I don't know why it's happening now," said Ramos, who has only one ATP title to his name.

"We were both nervous at the start but in the second set it was a good match. Then he seemed tired and I was feeling fresh, physically and mentally, maybe that's why I won."

Pouille was treated by the physiotherapist for lower back pain during the changeover at 3-0 in the decider.

Ramos, the 15th seed, won four games in a row to take the first set as Pouille struggled to find his stride.

The Frenchman, however, played tighter in the second set, which he won after breaking decisively in the 11th game.

Pouille double-faulted to give Ramos a 2-0 advantage in the third set before fading away, bothered by back pains midway through the set.

(Writing by Julien Pretot; Editing by Clare Fallon)

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Djokovic beats Goffin to reach Miami Open final

Top seed Novak Djokovic overcame a strong challenge from Belgium's David Goffin to reach the Miami Open final with a 7-6(5) 6-4 victory on Friday as he continued his pursuit of a fifth title in six years on Key Biscayne.

The Serbian world number one shrugged off a slow start in tough on-court conditions before hitting his stride, and sealed the win with a powerful first serve that forced a wayward Goffin return to end an encounter that lasted just over two hours.

Australian Open champion Djokovic improved his stellar record for the year to 27-1 and will next face Japan's Kei Nishikori, who ousted Australian Nick Kyrgios 6-3 7-5 in the second semi-final.

The 28-year-old Djokovic, a five-times champion in Miami, is bidding to match Andre Agassi's record of six titles at the event and earn a record 28th ATP World Tour Masters 1000 crown.

"It was windy, it was humid, it was warm," Djokovic told reporters. "It was like everything was thrown out there.

"And to overcome those obstacles and conditions was something that I'm proud of. I managed to stay tough in the right moments."

Djokovic, whose only defeat this year came in February when he retired against Spain's Feliciano Lopez in Dubai due to an eye infection, applauded Goffin's performance.

"He plays very clean," Djokovic said. "Also, I think he improved his serve. I had difficulty reading it. Physically, it was a great battle with lots of exchanges from the baseline."

With Goffin initially playing much steadier from the baseline in the Miami heat, Djokovic came under intense early pressure and saved three break points in the opening game before holding serve.

Djokovic and Goffin traded service breaks in the seventh and eighth games before battling to a tie-break which the Serb clinched 7-5 after his opponent, reaching high for a lob, hit a backhand volley into the net.

The second set went with serve until the seventh game when 15th seed Goffin hit a forehand long before netting a backhand to be broken and trail 3-4.

Djokovic then comfortably served out to book his place in Sunday's final at Crandon Park where he will seek to add another Miami crown to his titles from 2007, 2011, 2012, 2014 and last year.

Goffin, 25, who reached his first Masters 1000 semi-final in Indian Wells two weeks ago, is projected to climb to a career-high 13th in the world rankings on Monday.

Nishikori made his first Miami final by taking out brash young Australian Kyrgios in some style.

"It's a great feeling to be in my first final in Miami and it was very good playing today so I'm very happy," said the sixth seeded Japanese.

"In the second set I got a little bit tight after I broke his service game and I tried to be focused on what I had to do on my service game and the last couple of points I tried to be aggressive."

While happy to get through he was under no illusions of what lay ahead on Sunday, when he will be looking to break a five-match losing streak against the Serbian world number one.

"It's going to be tough for sure," he admitted.

"He's been playing well and we just played in Australia and I lost in three sets so I will have to do something better.

"I hope can play another good match." (Reporting by Mark Lamport-Stokes/Ben Everill in Los Angeles; Editing by Larry Fine/Nick Mulvenney)

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