Paris, November 1: Novak Djokovic produced a magnificent performance to thrash seventh seed Stefanos Tsitsipas 6-1, 6-2 and reach the Paris Masters semi-finals on Friday.

The 32-year-old, battling Rafael Nadal for the year-end world number one spot, will face Grigor Dimitrov for a place in the final after dispatching Greek star Tsitsipas in only 58 minutes. Paris Open 2019: Rohan Bopanna and Denis Shapovalov Enter Quarter-Finals of Tennis Tournament.

The world number one went into the match with a 2-1 losing record against Tsitsipas, but put the youngster in his place with a commanding victory.

Djokovic will be usurped by Nadal at the top of the rankings next week, but can ensure the fight to be the best player at the end of the year reaches the ATP Tour Finals in London by winning a record-extending fifth title at Bercy.

The crushing defeat ended Tsitsipas' run of three consecutive semi-finals and dealt a blow to his confidence ahead of his maiden appearance at the season-ending championships, which start on November 10.

Djokovic holds an 8-1 winning head-to-head record against Dimitrov, who saw off unseeded Chilean Cristian Garin 6-2, 7-5 earlier in the day.

The Serbian is bidding to tie Pete Sampras' record of finishing as the year-end number one on six occasions.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Nov 01, 2019 10:02 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).