Top 5 Photos, November 1: Grigor lights up Paris; Shapo stuns Monfils
Grigor Dimitrov continued his run to reach the Rolex Paris Masters semifinals on Friday, but Gael Monfils saw his hopes of qualifying for the ATP Finals dashed by Denis Shapovalov.
Action continued in Shenzhen in Paris, as the tournaments whittled down to the final four. These are the Top 5 photos from Friday.
1. In their first career meeting, Grigor Dimitrov proved to be too consistent for Cristian Garin. The world No. 27 advanced with a 6-2, 7-5 victory in Paris to set up a semifinal clash with 16-time major champion Novak Djokovic. Dimitrov is through to his first semifinal at the ATP Masters 1000 event and will look to end his six-match losing streak against the Serbian.
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2. Elina Svitolina relied on her grit to pull her though a nail biter against alternate Sofia Kenin. The reigning champion edged past Kenin 7-5, 7-6 (10), to maintain her perfect 3-0 record this year in Shenzhen and increase her WTA Finals win streak to nine. The Ukrainian displayed more aggression than usual, smashing 11 aces and 25 winners to take 3-2 lead in their head-to-head count, all coming in 2019.
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3. Denis Shapovalov denied Gael Monfils an opportunity to qualify for the season-ending ATP Finals by continuing his impressive run with a commanding 6-2, 6-2 win**. Monfils was just one win away from capturing a spot in London, but the Canadian continued to shine and has now taken three consecutive seeds out. As a result, Matteo Berrettini clinched the eighth berth to the season-ending event.**Shapovalov, who won his first title in Stockholm in mid-October, failed to win a match in his first two Rolex Paris Masters appearances, but in 2019, he is changing the story.
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4. Novak Djokovic was all smiles on Friday in his relentless 6-1, 6-2 victory over Stefanos Tsitsipas. The Serbian was ousted by the Greek in the quarterfinals of Shanghai last month, but the top seed is on a mission to capture his 35th ATP Masters 1000 trophy and force Rafael Nadal to continue picking up wins in the race for year-end No. 1.
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5. It was down to the wire with Karolina Pliskova and Simona Halep battling for a semifinal spot at the WTA Finals Shenzhen. The world No. 2 entered with a 3-7 record against Halep, but crushed winners from all areas of the court to claim a 6-0, 2-6, 6-4 victory. Pliskova will attempt to go one step further than her previous two appearances when she faces top-ranked Ashleigh Barty on Saturday.
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