PARIS, Nov. 4-- Serbian qualifier Filip Krajinovic recorded his first ATP Masters 1000 final at the Paris Masters here on Saturday, while Jack Sock of the United States maintained his hope of reaching the season-ending finale in London later this month. Following several top seeds' early exit from the tournament, Saturday's semifinals featured four players attempting to capture their first career ATP Masters 1000 title. Krajinovic withstood 31 aces from John Isner of the United States, also in quest for a Finals berth, and made his breakthrough in full sets after nearly two and a half hours. Krajinovic took away the first set at 6-4. The two players held their serves in the first 12 games of the second set, before Isner forced into a decider as he won the tie-break 7-2. In a quite similar decider, Isner kept himself in the match with his signature services against Krajinovic's solid baseline performance. It was the Serbian that secured a final spot after uppering in another tie-break 7-5. "It was a tough mental match. He was serving really well, and playing aggressive. I knew that was going to happen. "When I served for the match, my hand was shaking. It was tough to control the emotions, but I knew I had to stay aggressive all the way to the end, and I did it. It's the best day in my life," said Krajinovic, who is projected to break the top 50 in the ATP Rankings. Isner had to come to a stop on his way to the ATP Finals, scheduled on November 12-19. |