Djokovic enters Shanghai semis as Vacherot’s fairytale run continues; Sabalenka extends Wuhan winning run

Fourth seed Novak Djokovic battled past a spirited Zizou Bergs 6-3 7-5 on Thursday to reach the Shanghai Masters semi-finals for a 10th time, setting up a clash with surprise package and world number 204 Valentin Vacherot.

In challenging conditions, Djokovic was made to work harder than the scoreline suggests by his Belgian opponent, who actually registered more winners than the four-times champion but was undone by unforced errors.

In the opening set, Bergs showed remarkable resilience by saving five set points to frustrate Djokovic, before the Serbian finally closed it out with an unreturned serve.

The second set proved even more gruelling, with both players serving well but treating the crowd to breathtaking rallies that left Djokovic hunched over his racquet on several occasions.

The highlight came during one extraordinary rally where Djokovic gave Bergs five golden opportunities to seal the point with overhead shots and volleys at the net, only to somehow emerge victorious and bring the crowd to its feet.

Djokovic eventually sealed victory on his third match point, advancing to face Vacherot in what promises to be an intriguing semi-final clash.

Vacherot pulled off a huge upset, stunning 10th seed Holger Rune 2-6 7-6(4) 6-4 to become the second-lowest ranked player ever to reach an ATP Masters semi-final.

The Monegasque qualifier’s remarkable run will see him crack the top 100 next week after spending half of last year sidelined with injury, but even playing in Shanghai was a question mark when he arrived.

Vacherot’s stunning journey in Shanghai, which now includes wins over four seeds, looked doomed early on as Rune raced through a physically demanding opening set while the underdog felt his “lungs were screaming”.

But the tide turned dramatically in the second-set tiebreak when Vacherot produced a stunning backhand crosscourt winner to take a 5-4 lead.

Rune crashed his next shot into the net and could only watch as Vacherot fired a forehand winner down the line on set point to level the match.

Rune struggled physically in the decider, requiring the trainer twice to massage his leg. Vacherot then capitalised to complete a memorable victory in a contest lasting a minute shy of three hours.

Sabalenka downs Samsonova: World number one Aryna Sabalenka raced into a fourth consecutive Wuhan Open quarter-final Thursday, having revealed she spent time on holiday last month practising with Novak Djokovic.

She was joined by Iga Swiatek who reached her 25th WTA 1000 quarter-final with a hard-fought 7-6 (7/2), 6-4 win over Belinda Bencic.

Sabalenka, in contrast to her rusty start against Rebecca Sramkova the day before, came out firing from the get-go to blow away Russia’s world number 20 Liudmila Samsonova 6-3, 6-2.

Sabalenka, whose unbeaten match run in Wuhan extended to 19-0 as she seeks a fourth straight title, took a month off after winning her fourth Grand Slam title at the US Open in early September.

She went on holiday to Greece, where she spent time hitting with former number one Djokovic, who is a resident there.

“We went for dinner. We practised a couple times,” Sabalenka told reporters. “I hope I was a great hitting partner. So far, he’s winning in Shanghai, so I guess I was,” she added.

Sabalenka did not face a break point against Samsonova and was impressive on her second serve, dropping just three points.

The Belarusian top seed wrapped up the win in 75 minutes and will face former Wimbledon champion Elena Rybakina in the last eight.

Poland’s Swiatek will face Italy’s Jasmine Paolini for a place in the semi-finals

“I wanted to play with confidence and make great decisions because against Belinda, you can’t let her dictate, so I really tried to do that,” said Swiatek.

Agence France-Presse