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By AFP
PARIS: Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic will meet for the 47th time Saturday with a place in the final of Paris Masters.
Federer, looking for a 100th career title, stepped closer to closer to that goal with a 6-4, 6-4 win over Japanese Kei Nishikori in the quarterfinals of the French capital Friday.
Djokovic, who will become Monday the world number one Rafael Nadal, reached the semifinal – final after being re-entered after a defeat in the final to defeat Marin Cilic 4-6, 6-2, 6- 3 and accumulate his 21st consecutive victory.
Djokovic leads Federer 24-22 and has not lost to Switzerland since 2015.
However, the Serb star admits that Saturday's challenge could be compromised by a big cold.
"I'm still struggling, it's a kind of flu, it's not easy to perform every day, the energy levels are not so high," said the second head series.
Djokovic, four-time champion of Paris, who entered the quarter-final on Friday with a 15-2 record on Cilic, had three points in the first set, but the Croatian held the mark
Cilic opened the scoring in Game 10, ending the 30-game winning streak of Wimbledon and US Open champion Djokovic.
Cilic, who defeated Djokovic, 31, in the final at Queen's Club this summer, was again pausing for a 2-1 lead.
But Djokovic fought back, recovering the break in the next game and crashing again in the eighth to lay the groundwork for victory.
The only consolation of Cilic was to register for the ATP finals in London later this month. courtesy of the loss of Nishikori.
"It was a big challenge.I was down in the third set.This match could have happened in one or the other way," Djokovic said.
"I won the match, but if he had won, he would have been absolutely deserved."
Djokovic is now 30-1 from the start of Wimbledon, his only defeat of the year against Greek Stefanos Tsitsipas in the third round of the Toronto Masters in August.
– Khachanov will face Thiem –
When he wins the title on Sunday, Djokovic will match Nadal's record with 33 Masters wins.
Federer, champion in Paris in 2011, beat Djokovic for the last time in the ATP Tour final in 2015 and was largely beaten by his longtime rival in the Cincinnati Masters final on the eve of the US Open this year.
He Nishikori was not worried Friday, breaking the Japanese in the ninth match of the first set and the opening match of the second match.
The other semifinal on Saturday will feature the sixth seeded Austrian, Dominic Thiem, against the Russian Karen Khachanov. , the winner of the Kremlin Cup last month in Moscow, demolished the seeded No. 4 seed Alexander Zverev of Germany 6-1, 6-2, while Thiem eliminated the champion in Jack Sock title, the American ranked 16th, 4-6, 6-4, 6-4.
World No. 18 Khachanov saved two match points against John Isner in the last game of 16, but it took him a little over an hour to send Zverev, who lost his serve six times in eight games.
Khachanov, 22, rejected Zverev's complaints about the noise from the Russian player's box during the match.
"When you play and you lose sometimes, you're a little frustrated and upset," said Khachanov, who reached the last four of a Masters for the second time after a semifinal in Toronto this summer.
"Everything is fine between us and there is no problem."
Thiem reserved his place. in the ATP final for the third consecutive year by eliminating Sock who will be part of the world's top 100 following his defeat on Friday.
Thiem won the second highest number of ATP matches this year – now 53-17 – one behind the 54-17 mark of Zverev.
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