SHANGHAI (AP) — Novak Djokovic overcame physical discomfort to beat Taylor Fritz 6-4, 7-6 (6) and move closer to a 100th career title and a record-breaking fifth-place finish at the Shanghai Masters on Saturday.

By also reaching the final, at the top Jannik Sinner ensured he would be the ATP year-end No. 1 and the first Italian to achieve the feat.

“(I’ve) won a lot of titles, had great battles and had great performances,” the 37-year-old Djokovic said. “I definitely came here with a vision and a desire to reach the final and fight for a 100th title. I get that opportunity against the best player in the world, and let’s see what happens.”

Fellow great Roger Federer has 103 titles and Jimmy Connors leads men with 109 in the Open era.

Top-ranked Jannik Sinner will be chasing his seventh ATP title of the year after beating Tomas Machac 6-4, 7-5.

Djokovic improved to 10-0 in career matches against Fritz, who squandered a 5-3 lead in the second set tiebreak and a set point at 6-5.

Djokovic was clearly struggling with mobility and balance, with his left knee heavily strapped.

“These types of fights always take it out of me, but especially towards the end of the tournament,” Djokovic said. “At this stage of my career I’m doing my best to recover and I had some physical problems here and there on the pitch.”

But Fritz, number two in the US Open, could not take advantage.

He lost a long rally 6-6 and collapsed on the first match point when Djokovic sent a volley to the net and the American tapped it just long from full length.

Djokovic leads overall 4-3 against Sinner, who has won the last two – including in the Semi-finals of the Australian Open.

Earlier, Sinner withstood a nearly two-hour grassroots storm from No. 33 seed Machac, who defeated No. 2 Carlos Alcaraz in the quarterfinals.

The Italian has a chance to win his third Masters title in 2024, after victories in Miami and Cincinnati, in addition to his victories at the Australian Open And US open.

“I just tried to stay there, see what was going to happen,” Sinner said. “I’m playing every point with the maximum intensity I can, so I’m very happy with that. I’m happy to be in a final again.

“I’m just looking forward to (the final), to find a solution somehow… and hopefully it will win the game.”

Sinner fired 10 aces and 28 winners, against just seven unforced errors, in a characteristically efficient performance for his 64th match victory this year.

Wuhan opened

Second-ranked Aryna Sabalenka rallied from a slow start to beat in-form Coco Gauff 1-6, 6-4, 6-4 in the semifinals to advance to her third consecutive Wuhan final and maintain her perfect record at the tournament.

Sabalenka will be in seventh place Zheng Qinwen in the final. The Paris Olympics champion defeated No. 51 seed Wang Xinyu 6-3, 6-4. Sabalenka will bid for her fourth title of the season, including the Australian Open and US open.

The Belarusian’s 16th straight win in Wuhan ended Gauff’s own recent winning streak at nine, including the China opened title from last week. But things looked anything but certain for Sabalenka as she crashed out 6-1 in the opening set.

“In the first set she was just devastated,” Sabalenka said. “No matter what she did, everything flew in. Everything was so aggressive. I didn’t have many opportunities.”

In a battle between the last two US Open champions, Gauff led by a break early in the second, but Sabalenka responded by drawing level at 4–4 and saved a break point on serve to take a 5–4 lead.

Serving to stay in the set, Gauff was broken when Sabalenka hit a swerving forehand volley to force a deciding set.

The Belarusian continued her momentum in the third, extending her streak to seven games for a 3-0 lead. Gauff fought back to level at 4-4, but Sabalenka held firm and was able to stop Gauff’s run.

Sabalenka broke again after Gauff committed her worst 21st double fault of the season on match point, ending the 2 1/2-hour match.

‘I know what she’s going through. This is really difficult,” said Sabalenka, who has had problems with her serve in the past. “But I know if she can overcome this service situation, I’m pretty sure she’ll become one of the best players.”

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AP tennis: https://apnews.com/hub/tennis