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Novak Djokovic stretches for a backhand return to Juan Martin del Potro during their Shanghai Rolex Masters final at Qizhong Tennis Center in Minhang District yesterday. |
Defending champion Novak Djokovic overcame a second set slump to defeat the sixth seed Juan Martin del Potro of Argentina for his second Shanghai ATP Masters title on Sunday.
One day after defeating world No. 1 Rafael Nadal in the semifinals, Del Potro continued his surging form, grabbing the second set 6-3 after dropping the opening set at 6-1.
Both players were able to hit winners in the deciding third set and the match was forced into tiebreak, where the Serb was the more consistent one and sealed the set and the victory at 7-3.
"My opponent is a big fighter. All the way up to teh last point, I don't know if I'm going to win the match. It was a very even match. He would definitely be a worthy winner of this trophy if he was there standing as a winner," said Djokovic.
By lifting his seventh trophy of the season, 26-year-old Djokovic improved his slim chances of overhauling Nadal in the battle for yearending No. 1 in the ATP Rankings, and with the victory, Djokovic improved his winning streak to 20 matches on Chinese soil.
The winning streak brought two China Open titles and two Shanghai Masters titles, which made China one of the Serb's most favorable places. After winning the final, Djokovic again showed his knowledge on Chinese, writing the Chinese characters "Love" and "Smile" on camera and saying "I love you" and "Thank you" in Chinese.
"There's been so many gifts really over the years here in China by the fans. What I'm impressed the most with is the appreciation that they have in really being able to come every day. For me that's unusual because I don't get to experience that in the other tournaments.
"I really respect that a lot and I feel that love, and try to return that as well."
Djokovic earned 729,725 U.S. dollars in prize money and 1,000 ATP Ranking points, while del Potro picked up 357,800 dollars and 600 points. Both players have already qualified for the ATP World Tour Finals, to be held at The O2 in London from Nov. 4-11.
Djokovic dictated play throughout the 34-minute first set with his forehand. He dominated del Potro, competing in his third ATP World Tour Masters 1000 final, by striking 13 winners and winning all five net approaches. Djokovic broke in the second and fourth games to stamp his authority.
In the second set, del Potro rediscovered the kind of form that helped him beat Nadal in Saturday's semi-final. Djokovic struggled to win his first service points and his unforced error count increased. The Argentine broke Djokovic in the second game and produced some blistering winners to take a 3-0 lead. After that, he rarely troubled before winning the set.
Both players raised game and had breaking chances in the third set, but never capitalized on any of them. The match moved closer to an inevitable tiebreak.
Djokovic opened up 2-0 and built up a 4-2 lead in the tiebreak and he finally claimed the victory when he struck a backhand winner down the line.
"The match was really close and I think Nole played some unbelievable points in the tiebreak," said del Potro. "The match was so exciting. At Wimbledon in early July we played another fantastic match against each other."
"It's a really bad loss for me now. I was really close to beating him after beating Rafael Nadal."
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