Top seed Novak Djokovic broke the spirit of Jo-Wilfried Tsonga with a 6-4, 3-0 victory at the ATP Montreal Masters on Saturday night as the Frenchman quit after 59 minutes with a sore right arm. Djokovic, one step closer to lifting his ninth title in 2011, will fight for the trophy on Sunday against American Mardy Fish.
Fish is now within a win of his second hardcourt title of the summer after beating Serb Janko Tipsarevic 6-3, 6-4 in the other semi. "I'm raising my level with each match," Djokovic said. "Becoming number one has been my goal all my life. Now I've achieved my dream. I have no reason to be afraid of what is coming next. Everything is a new experience and a challenge."
Down a set and 0-3 in the second, Tsonga called for the trainer to treat an arm worn out by a string of heavy matches this week including a win over Roger Federer. He gave up moments later.
"He seemed to be struggling with his movement," Djokovic said. "He told me he had been carrying that injury for awhile."
Djokovic, the reigning Australian Open and Wimbledon champion, has now won 52 of 53 matches this season in a run of form which has taken the 24-year-old to the top ranking position.
Djokovic barely put a foot wrong as he broke Tsonga to end the first set and the barreled into the second by tearing down the game of the burly 13th seed.
Tsonga was clearly frustrated by superb play from his opponent, who took over number one after Wimbledon and is playing this week for the first time on the top position.
Tsonga fell to 16 unforced errors in the opening set as Djokovic slowly took control for the victory.
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