Djokovic thrashes Tsonga to lift Shanghai Masters title

The odds were well and truly stacked.

As Djokovic surged to 4-1 up the first set seemed like a foregone conclusion but the manner of his third break on the bounce was worrying for the Brit. He meekly seemed to find Djokovic’s forehand with any assertive shot of his own and folded before the half-hour mark.

Daniel Nestor of Canada and Edouard Roger-Vasselin of France beat Colombian pair Juan Sebastian Cabal and Robert Farah 6-3, 6-4.

“In terms of confidence, in terms of level of tennis, I am playing better”.

The Spanish world No. 7 battled again with a vengeance, nevertheless, within the second set, placing fixed strain on the Frenchman’s service video games and changing three of his 9 break-level alternatives. He also saved the lone break point he faced.

With Paris Masters left in the season, the record breaking Serbian can hope to create another record. “It’s not easy to stop him”. The two swapped breaks early in the first set and with 20thranked Tomic standing up to Djokovic in the rallies, they were inseparable heading into the tiebreak.

The 30-year-old fired down 11 aces to record his first win over Nadal since the 2011 ATP World Tour finals. But knowing that I have a final tomorrow…

“It was a very good first set”.

“Today I was just struggling a little bit”.

“I’m really happy to work hard because I know I can count on my body”, said Tsonga. “Honestly, that’s how I felt”, said Djokovic, who was showered with golden confetti at the victory ceremony. I felt like I’ve done everything right. “I think his game heavily relies on the serve”. I have the support of the close ones, my wife, the most important one, but my brothers, my team. For a man who is dominating the field to such an extent, the evolution of his attacking net game must make unwanted reading for the rest.

Despite the loss, Nadal had a good run in Asia reaching the Beijing final and beating Top 10 players this week.

The Serb now has 14,285 points in the 2015 Race to London, 6,415 more than second-placed Andy Murray, who he beat in the last four in Shanghai. He also moves into second place ahead of Federer in Masters titles with 25.

Djokovic and Tsonga are scheduled on court at 7.30pm AEST with the match streamed live online.

“He’s played very, very well for the whole year – particularly the past few weeks”, Murray said of his arch rival, who has won 19 of their 28 matches and three Grand Slams this season.