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SPORTS Monday 5 noveMber 2018

Khachanov stuns Djokovic to win his 1st Paris Masters title

PARIS (AP) — Karen the fourth game to move the back of the court, flat
Khachanov upset a tired- 3-1 up and then led 30-0 backhands and forehand.
looking Novak Djokovic 7-5, on serve, the unseeded He can really hurt you,"
6-4 to win the Paris Masters Khachanov broke him Djokovic said. "His serve
title and deprive Djokovic straight back and the mo- is really, really strong and
of the chance on Sunday mentum abruptly shifted precise."
to match Rafael Nadal's re- away from Djokovic. After both players held to
cord of 33 Masters titles. "I stepped in more inside love, Khachanov showed
Djokovic, a record four- the court," Khachanov said. no nerves — even though
time champion at the in- "I started to move him and he was in his first Masters
door event, looked out of maybe he didn't expect final — and served out the
energy after an epic three- that I could do it after be- match. He secured vic-
hour semifinal win against ing down 3-1 with a break." tory on his first match point
Roger Federer on Saturday. Djokovic seemed agitated when Djokovic chopped a
After also being taken to at times and twice turned backhand return wide. The
three sets by Marin Cilic to his box to remonstrate imposing Khachanov thrust
in Friday's quarterfinals, about an unspecified issue both his arms in the air and,
Djokovic's semifinal finished during the first set. moments later, knelt down
at around 8 p.m. local time Khachanov broke for 6-5 to kiss the court.
and he felt he was unable when he hit a powerful shot "It's a breakthrough season.
to recover sufficiently from down the line that Djokovic And this title, it's a good
that draining encounter. could only scoop back into year-end I would say,"
"I didn't unfortunately. But the net. The Russian won Khachanov said. "Maybe Karen Khachanov of Russia poses with the trophy after winning
the final match of the Paris Masters tennis tournament against
I don't want to talk about the first set with a big first I'm not crying, but still I'm Novak Djokovic of Serbia at the Bercy Arena in Paris, France,
that," Djokovic said. "I want serve that Djokovic could really happy." Djokovic will Sunday, Nov. 4, 2018.
to talk about how well not return, stretching out his return to No. 1 in the rank- Associated Press
(Khachanov) played all racket in vain as the fizzing ings for the first time in two
week and absolutely de- ball clipped the frame. years on Monday, but the
served to win today." Djokovic struggled to han- Serb will be disappointed
Asked again whether it was dle Khachanov's brutal at missing out on a 73rd ca-
a case of emotional fa- two-handed, cross-court reer title, having withstood
tigue, after such an intense backhands from the base- the best of Federer on Sat-
tussle with Federer, Djokov- line, which often land- urday. Still, the Wimbledon
ic repeated his praise for ed near his ankles, and and U.S. Open champion
Khachanov. dropped his serve again to has plenty to feel good
"Karen played really well trail 2-1 in the second set. about after a 22-match
and he deserved to win," He had to save three more winning streak, and he re-
Djokovic said. "All the credit break points in the seventh mains favorite for the sea-
to him." game to hold for 4-3 down. son-ending ATP Finals in
Although Djokovic broke in "He was playing big from London, beginning Nov. 11.

Barty beats Wang to win

WTA Elite Trophy final

ZHUHAI, China (AP) — I have played (Wang) a win at Nottingham ear-
Ashleigh Barty defeated in the past, it's always lier this year.
Wang Qiang 6-3, 6-4 to been an extremely tough Wang became the first
win the WTA Elite Trophy match," said Barty. "There's Chinese player to reach
final on Sunday. a tendency to have long the final in Zhuhai.
The Australian saved four games, whether they're The tournament in Zhuhai
of six break points and return or service games. features leading players
broke Wang's serve four It's kind of grinding out on the women's tour who
times as she cruised to the those games." didn't qualify for the WTA
biggest victory of her ca- The win marks the third title Finals in Singapore last
reer. of Barty's career and the week.q
"I know that whenever second of 2018, following