World No. 1 Novak Djokovic of Serbia explained his hard-fought victory over Russia's Andrey Rublev in the semifinals of the Masters in Paris, France.
The 36-year-old Serb was quoted by the ATP press service as saying:
Rublev was suffocating me like a snake suffocates a frog. For most of the match, he was playing at an extremely high level. I always knew he possesses a great quality but today he played off the charts. I don't think I've ever faced Rublev with this good. On the other hand, I was struggling again with my fitness, just got through it.
Novak Djokovic
On November 4, the fifth-ranked Russian Andrey Rublev lost in three sets to world ranking leader Novak Djokovic of Serbia in the semifinals of the prestigious ATP-1000 hard court tournament in Paris (France). The match, which lasted exactly three hours, ended with the score 5:7, 7:6 (7:3), 7:5 in favor of the 36-year-old Serb.
Djokovic's opponent in the final of the Masters in Paris will be Bulgarian Grigor Dimitrov (17th position in the ATP ranking), who defeated Stefanos Tsitsipas of Greece in the semifinals.