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Novak Djokovic reacts to overtaking Roger Federer in world rankings after reaching Shanghai Masters final

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Serbia's Novak Djokovic celebrates after winning against Germany's Alexander Zverev during their men's singles semi-finals match at the Shanghai Masters tennis tournament on October 13, 2018. (Photo by WANG ZHAO / AFP)WANG ZHAO/AFP/Getty Images — Novak Djokovic coasted into the finals of the Shanghai Masters (Picture: Getty)

Novak Djokovic admits he is surprised at just how well he is playing after reaching the final of the Shanghai Masters.

The Serb recorded his 17th successive win with a straights sets victory over Alexander Zverev which helped him leapfrog Roger Federer in the ATP world rankings.

Djokovic could face Federer in Sundays final should the Swiss defeat Borna Coric later today and the new world No.2 believes he is in the best form of an already glittering career.

He told Sky Sports: I was saying after the US Open when I got back together with my coaches we sat down and strategised a long-term plan.

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The surgery i had earlier this year has compromised my game a bit and it took me time to regain confidence and comfort. We got back together beginning of April and we all agreed the US open was the place we wanted to peak.

It came much before that on the grass where I had a great week at Queens, won wimbledon and after that I have played some of my best tennis ever. I am just trying to keep on going, be committed and dedicated.

It is a surprise to do it this early I must say considering the plan we had but I always believe in myself. I know I can be the best in the world and beat anyone on any surface on my day.

Tennis - Shanghai Masters - Men's Singles - Semi-finals - Qi Zhong Tennis Center, Shanghai, China - October 13, 2018. Alexander Zverev of Germany and Novak Djokovic of Serbia at the end of their match. REUTERS/Aly Song — Novak Djokovic took just over an hour to beat Alexander Zverev in straight sets (Picture: Getty)

On the victory over Zverev, he added: I thought I was very solid and made him always play an extra shot from the back of the court. I tried to be as accurate and efficient on my service as possible using the angles.

I dont have a 220km per hour first serve like he does so I have to try to use precision more and open up the rally and that was part of the tactics. Obviously Sasha can play much better than he has done tonight it was quite weird from his side.

I dont know if he was experiencing some fitness issues from his side but he wasnt moving that quickly he was making a lot of unforced errors and I was just trying to play each point like its the the first one and just overall I am very pleased with the performance.

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