Sport

Djokovic upsets Nadal, meets Federer

MONTREAL: World No.1 Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic, the rising star of the men’s tour, will square off in the final of the Montreal Masters tennis after both recorded hard-fought semifinal wins on Saturday.

Top seed Federer edged past unseeded Czech Radek Stepanek 7-6, 6-2 but the best was saved for last as third seed Djokovic stunned World No.2 Rafael Nadal 7-5, 6-3.

For the second match in succession, Wimbledon champion Federer hit 13 aces, snuffing out the few opportunities Stepanek was able to force.

Stepanek, who had won 12 of his last 14 matches, had Federer 0-40 in the seventh game but the Swiss fought back.

Stepanek then saved three set points in the tiebreak before Federer rifled a forehand return for a winner to take the set and then broke twice in the second set.

“I thought it was a tough match with a lot of crucial points,” he said.

“A lot of shots were played on reaction...I couldn’t really dictate play because he kept coming at me, but I came up with some really nice passing shots when I had to and I started to serve really well.”

Djokovic produced some inspired tennis as he beat Nadal for only the second time in seven meetings. Nadal, the winner in Montreal in 2005, missed three chances to break the Serb in the 10th game and Djokovic made him pay, sealing the set when the Spaniard put a forehand wide. Djokovic was the more aggressive player throughout and a netted drop shot from Nadal in the eighth game gave him a 5-3 lead and he served out for a place in the final.

Federer has won all four of his meetings with Djokovic but said he expected a tough match in the final.

“I think Novak’s really playing well at the moment,” he said.

Top seed Maria Sharapova pulled out before her Los Angeles Classic semifinal against fellow Russian Nadia Petrova because of a strain in her lower left leg on Saturday.

In the final, the fourth-seeded Petrova will face third seed Serbian Ana Ivanovic, who had earlier fought off two match points to beat compatriot Jelena Jankovic 4-6, 6-3, 7-5.

Third-seeded Ivanovic fired 12 aces in the 2hr 28min match and rallied from a 4-1 deficit in the third set.

With the victory, Ivanovic insured she will reach a career-high No.4 in the world rankings on Monday.

That will still leave her one behind Jankovic, who climbed from 12th at the start of 2007 to No. 3 in the world, thanks to four tournament titles this year.

The results: At Montreal: