Djokovic goes for 72nd career title after near-flawless effort in Shanghai

Third-ranked Novak Djokovic will play for the Shanghai Masters title on Sunday after crushing No. 5 Alexander Zverev 6-2, 6-1 in a near-flawless semifinal on Saturday.

Djokovic is targeting his 72nd career title and has won all three of his previous finals in the Chinese city.

"I wouldn't be so dedicated to this sport if I didn't believe that I can achieve great heights," Djokovic said. "But you always have to kind of pinch yourself, particularly at this stage of my career, and be grateful, because I have had an awesome career so far."

"It was one of the best matches of my life," Coric said.

Coric said neck pain almost caused him to skip playing in Shanghai.

"Today, really, I just came on the court with absolutely no pressure. I basically didn't care, and that's why I played so good."

Coric finished off Federer in style with the final two points an ace and a sizzling forehand cross-court winner.

Federer full of praise

Coric didn't offer Federer a break point opportunity, while managing to break Federer's serve in the opening game of both sets. In all, Federer presented Coric with seven beak point possibilities.

"He had more punch on the ball. He served better," Federer said. "I got off to a bad start in both sets. That combination is plenty here in Shanghai with fast conditions."

Coric, who is 2-2 against Federer, also beat the 20-time Grand Slam champion in their last outing at Halle in June.

Meanwhile, Djokovic played his 1,000th career match Saturday and holds an impressive 827-173 win-loss record.

Djokovic's win over Zverev and Federer's demise guaranteed Djokovic will move up from No. 3 to No. 2 in the world rankings on Monday, which has him swapping positions with Federer, but still trailing Rafael Nadal.

Emotions take over

His serve has not been broken this week in 37 service games. The tennis star offered Zverev a break point opportunity, and broke the German's serve on four of six offerings.

By the time Zverev was 6-2, 3-1 down, his emotions got the better of him as he hit a routine backhand into the net. He banged his racket to the ground, then gave it another swipe before tossing the mangled implement into the crowd.

Djokovic posted only nine unforced errors to 24 for Zverev.

"I did everything I intended to do on my end," Djokovic said. "It's all working and it's been a couple of perfect matches. There's a lot of positives to take from my matches this week."

Djokovic is on a 17-match winning streak and is 26-1 in matches played since the start of Wimbledon.

A win on Sunday would deliver a fourth title for the season to Djokovic, besides Wimbledon and the U.S. Open.