Novak Djokovic of Serbia secured back-to-back ATP titles on Sunday by edging past battling Frenchman Gael Monfils 6-2, 5-7, 7-6 (7/3) in a thrilling Paris Masters final.
The win was the first for Djokovic in the Masters Series this year following four runner-up finishes and it will send him into the season-ending ATP Tour World Finals in London from Sunday to Nov. 29 as the favorite.
But it remains to be seen just how much his efforts at the Paris Masters, and throughout the year, have taken out of him after he completed a tour-leading 94th match of the season.
PHOTO: REUTERS
At 6-2, 3-0 up Djokovic appeared to be cruising toward his first Paris Masters title, but a combination of fatigue and bravado from Monfils saw the home favorite claw his way back into the match.
The 22-year-old Serb again looked set for victory when he led 4-1 in the decider but again Monfils battled back to level at 4-4 and the final went all the way to a tie-break.
Djokovic led from the start in that and clinched the title in two hours, 43 minutes when Monfils double faulted with the Serb at 6-3.
The third seed, who won the ATP tournament in Basel last week after defeating Roger Federer in the final, dominated the 30 minute-long first set, breaking Monfils in the fourth and eighth games.
Monfils, who was playing in his first Masters Series final in his home city, tried to dig deep at the start of the second, saving one break point in the second game, but Djokovic converted on his second opportunity to lead 2-0.
The Serb looked on course for a comfortable win at 3-0 up, only for Monfils to gather his forces and go on the attack.
He finally managed to put some pressure on Djokovic’s serve and converted his first break point of the match when the Serb netted a stinging forehand drive on the volley.
That electrified the packed 15,000 Bercy arena crowd and they had more to cheer about in the following game when “La Monf,” as the 23-year-old is affectionately known in France, held serve to love to draw level at 3-3.
Djokovic suddenly looked unsettled and a couple of unforced errors set up another break point for Monfils, but the Serb erased it with a big forehand wide followed by an easy volley into an empty court.
Two games later the Frenchman had another break point, but again Djokovic drew him out wide and this time Monfils at full stretch was forced to hit wide.
The tide had clearly turned, though, and two more break points followed for Monfils. He converted the second of these by forcing a mistake from a stunned Djokovic with a stinging service return.
Monfils served out to level the set scores, sparking another round of crowd-pleasing chest-thumping from the Paris showman.
The final set was a thriller, with both players fighting both physical and mental fatigue.
Djokovic twice broke serve and twice Monfils battled back to level the scores, leaving the title to be won and lost in a tie-break in which the Serb’s experience of big finals proved crucial.
It was Djokovic’s fifth ATP title of the year and kept alive his hopes of overhauling Rafael Nadal for the world No. 2 spot in the London finals.
OFFENSE SHINES: First baseman Pan Chie-kai hit a solo homer in the fifth inning as all 10 batters Taiwan used contributed at least one hit toward their team total of 14 One day after their first shutout loss at the WBSC Premier12, Taiwan yesterday bounced back with a commanding 8-2 victory over the US, keeping their hopes for a spot in tomorrow’s final alive. The win in the Super Round marked Taiwan’s first triumph over the US at a top-tier international baseball tournament since 2003. Their previous win over the US was at the 2003 Baseball World Cup, with only one win in the previous 10 matchups since 1999. Yesterday’s game was tightly contested through the first six innings, with the margin never exceeding two runs. However, the tide turned in the top of
Taiwan last night defeated Cuba 2-0 in their World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC) Premier12 Group B game at the Taipei Dome and finished the group second. At the Taipei Tianmu Baseball Stadium, South Korea yesterday defeated Australia 5-2, while Japan last night won 11-3 against the Dominican Republic. On Sunday, Taiwan scored two three-run homers in an 11-3 blowout win over Australia at the Taipei Dome to advance to the Super Round. Fresh off a defeat at the hands of defending Premier12 champions and Group B winners Japan the previous day, Taiwan’s offense came out slugging against Australia from the
TWO-NIL LOSS: Taiwan’s best chance to score came at the top of the fifth with the bases loaded and one out, but Venezuela’s Liarvis Breto got out of the jam Taiwan yesterday suffered a shutout 2-0 loss to Venezuela in the opening game of the WBSC Premier12 Super Round at the Tokyo Dome. Taiwan had seven hits, one more than Venezuela’s six, but catcher Carlos Perez’s two-run homer to left field in the bottom of the fourth inning delivered the only runs scored by both teams and secured victory for Venezuela. Taiwan’s best chance came at the top of the fifth inning with the bases loaded and only one out. However, Venezuela reliever Liarvis Breto struck out Chen Chen-wei before reliever Pedro Garcia finished the inning by allowing an infield flyball by Lin
As sporting celebrations go, it does not quite have the charm of Roger Milla’s hip-wiggling shimmy with a corner flag at the 1990 World Cup or the imperious swagger of Usain Bolt’s iconic lightning pose. However, a dance move inspired by US president-elect Donald Trump’s stilted on-stage boogieing has rapidly become the celebration of choice across the US sporting world. From the blood-soaked UFC to the hard-hitting NFL and the reliably decorous world of the LPGA Tour, athletes across North America have succumbed to the viral Trump dance craze in the past week. On Monday, US soccer star Christian Pulisic became the latest
RSS