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Djokovic survives scare against Bautista Agut to keep up unbeaten year
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Published 29/08/2020 at 00:16 GMT+1
Novak Djokovic was forced to dig deep to overcome Roberto Bautista Agut and book his place in the Western and Southern Open final against Milos Raonic.
Novak Djokovic of Serbia returns a shot to Roberto Bautista Agut of Spain in their semifinal match during the Western & Southern Open at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center on August 28, 2020 in the Queens borough of New York City
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Djokovic is now unbeaten in all 22 of his tour level matches in 2020 and will look to win his third title of the year, which has seen the tennis calendar greatly disturbed by the coronavirus pandemic.
The Serb did not have things his own way, losing the first set 6-4 against the Spaniard before levelling the match to force a decider.
Bautista Agut took an early advantage in the final set, breaking to go 2-1 up but Djokovic turned it on, winning some lengthy rallies and forcing errors from his opponent to go 5-2 up.
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Stefan Edberg and Boris Becker role play as Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic
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With the match seemingly in the bag, however, Djokovic let some unforced errors slip into his game, allowing Bautista Agut to rattle off four straight games and get the chance to serve for the match.
It was there that Djokovic, clearly struggling physically, summoned up some strength to break back and force a tie-breaker, which he won 7-0.
Djokovic faces Milos Raonic in the final after the big-serving Canadian beat Stefanos Tsitsipas 7-6(5), 6-3.
Raonic has enjoyed a comeback year after a series of seasons were interrupted by injuries and will be looking to avenge his Australian Open quarter-final loss to Djokovic.
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