World number four Novak Djokovic will face Jannik Sinner in the final of the Shanghai Masters on Sunday as he attempts to win his 100th ATP title.

The Serbian overcame problems with his hip to beat American Taylor Fritz 6-4 7-6 (8-6) in China to set up a final against Italian Sinner, who was number one at the end of the year. secured the world rankings by beating Tomas Machac 6-. 4 7-5 in the other semi-final.

The 37-year-old Djokovic flew through the first set and showed some of his best tennis of the season.

But the 24-time Grand Slam champion’s dominance slowed in the second set as he struggled with a hip problem.

Fritz saved three break points in the fifth game of the second set, taking a 3-2 lead.

Djokovic, who was forced to withdraw from this year’s French Open due to a knee injury, grew increasingly irate over the hip problem and called a medical timeout with Fritz leading 6-5.

The American sensed his chance to bounce back, but Djokovic held serve and took the set to a tiebreak.

World number seven Fritz had a 6-5 lead on serve in the tie-break, but lost both subsequent points, allowing Djokovic to serve out the match.

“I had some physical problems on the court today, but I managed to overcome them,” Djokovic said.

“It always takes it out of me, especially towards the end of the tournament and at this stage of my career I’m doing my best to recover.”

Sinner made light work of Czech 30th seed Machac to become the first Italian to reach the final in Shanghai.

The 23-year-old made just nine unforced errors as he sealed his 64th win of the year, cementing his status as the year-end number one player in the world.

“It’s amazing,” Sinner said. “It’s something you dream about as a child, when you’re young.”

Sunday’s final will be the eighth time Djokovic has faced Sinner, having defeated the Italian four out of seven times.