Paris Masters | Filip Krajinovic and Jack Sock to compete for title on Sunday showdown
Getty
Serbian qualifier Filip Krajinovic has entered in the final of the ATP Paris Masters 1000 after stunning American ninth seed John Isner 6-4, 6-7 (2/7), 7-6 (7/5). He will now face Jack Sock, who has advanced to his maiden Masters 1000 final, thrashing the home favorite Julien Benneteau 7-5, 6-2.
In a thrilling match, Krajinovic took down the ninth seed and last year's finalist John Isner 6-4, 6-7 (2/7), 7-6 (7/5) in 2 hours and 28 minutes, and earned a chance to play for his maiden ATP crown today. It was a quality match, with a lot of winners and a low number of unforced errors, considering the length and importance of the match for both of them. Isner was a runner-up in Paris last year and again fell short of an elusive first Masters title.
Krajinovic credited the support of 12-time Grand Slam champion and Davis Cup team-mate Novak Djokovic, who ended his 2017 season early due to an elbow injury, was invaluable.
"We are very close friends," he told a press conference as quoted by AFP.
"He was helping me right after the injuries... I was next to him all the time, and even now when I'm doing well he's next to me. We are always talking and he's (a) big support. He's our hero back in Serbia. It's an honour to be next to him."
Krajinovic is the lowest-ranked player in a Masters final since 191st-ranked Andrei Pavel in Paris in 2003. The 77th-ranked Krajinovic will play for his first career title against 16th-seeded American Jack Sock, who comfortably beat home favorite Julien Benneteau 7-5, 6-2. Sock has never won a Masters title and can qualify for the season-ending ATP Finals if he does so in the French capital.
In the past few months, Sock didn't play his finest tennis as he lost 5 matches in a row between Montreal and Shanghai, but he regained some of his forms in Stockholm and Basel. Even, things looked bad for him at the start of Paris as he was trailing 5-1 against Kyle Edmund in the final set, but managed to survive and stage a great comeback to stay in the tournament and now, he entered the final of the event.
