Tennis-Djokovic defeats Fritz to reach ATP final

(Reuters) – Novak Djokovic beat American Taylor Fritz in the semi-finals of the ATP Finals on Saturday, despite having a bad day in his own opinion, to move to within one win of matching Roger Federer’s record of six titles at the season finale.

Djokovic, chasing a sixth title at the event, prevailed 7-6(5) 7-6(6) and will play either Casper Ruud or Andrey Rublev in Sunday’s final.

“I had to fight to survive,” the 35-year-old Serbian said after his hard-fought victory over one hour 54 minutes at the Pala Alpitour in Turin.

“I didn’t feel very reactive today or very comfortable. I knew coming into today’s match from yesterday’s gruelling battle against (Daniil) Medvedev… it would take me some time to adjust and find the dynamic movement I need against Fritz, who is one of the best servers on the Tour.

“I am very pleased to have overcome this one as I don’t think it was one of my best days with my tennis but I managed to hang in there.”

If Djokovic wins the final, he will claim the biggest prize in tennis history, cashing in $4,740,300 for lifting the tournament trophy undefeated.

(Reporting by Tommy Lund in Gdansk; editing by Clare Fallon)