Raging Djokovic sent crashing

SHANGHAI — Novak Djokovic smashed his racket, angrily tore his shirt and raged at the chair umpire as he was stunned in the Shanghai Masters semifinals by Roberto Bautista Saturday. The defending champion and 12-time Grand Slam winner was broken once in the first set and three times in the second as he lost 6-4, 6-4 in his first defeat to the Spaniard. Bautista will now play Andy Murray of Britain who beat Gilles Simon of France 6-4, 6-3. The world No. 1 has been out of sorts since he won his first French Open title in June, losing early at Wimbledon and the Olympics and complaining he had lost motivation. The 29-year-old Serb, whose top ranking is under threat from Andy Murray, hummed to keep up his spirits during his quarterfinal escape against German qualifier Mischa Zverev. But the three-time champion failed to keep his cool in a stormy appearance at Shanghai’s Qi Zhong Tennis Centre as his nosedive in form continued. Djokovic later admitted he “didn’t feel good” mentally, and it showed as he continued his tirade at Brazilian chair umpire Carlos Bernardes. “I just don’t understand, you know, the decisions that he has made,” Djokovic grumbled to media. “When you go to change your racket, I went to change my (ripped) shirt and then he gives me a warning. Well, he was the star of the show. That’s what he wanted to be today.” Nineteenth-ranked Bautista put away two brilliant forehands as he fought off break points in the ninth game, and he then pounced as Djokovic was serving to stay in the first set. A sublime disguised lob set up break point and when Djokovic fired wide to hand over the set, he snapped and repeatedly slammed his racket into the deck. Djokovic grabbed a towel and cleaned up his racket splinters as the second set got underway, but tempers frayed again at 1-1 over a serve he felt was long. “Are you seeing anything today? Are you seeing anything?” fumed the Serb, gesticulating at Bernardes. Then Djokovic, angry at failing to secure a break point in game five, theatrically tore his shirt at the neck and went to change it mid-game, receiving a time violation warning. They exchanged breaks before Djokovic was broken again to be left staring at defeat -- only to save three match points before getting it back on serve in a tense game nine. But a forehand into the net brought up a fourth match point on his own serve, and this time Bautista grabbed the opportunity as he arrowed a pass down the line. “I’m so happy,” said Bautista, who had lost all five previous matches against Djokovic and is now in his first Masters final. Djokovic was seeking his 11th title in China — where he has never lost a final — after winning three Shanghai Masters, six China Opens and the 2008 Tennis Masters Cup. Cibulkova to meet Golubic Dominika Cibulkova reached her sixth final of the season by defeating Carla Suarez Navarro of Spain 6-4, 6-3 at the Generali Ladies Saturday. The 10th-ranked Slovak will play Viktorija Golubic of Switzerland in Sunday’s final. Golubic advanced after third-seeded Madison Keys pulled out of the event hours before their semifinal. Tournament organizers said the seventh-ranked American had a cold. On Friday, the 62nd-ranked Golubic won her quarterfinal against top-seeded Garbine Muguruza after the French Open champion sprained her left ankle and retired at 4-4 in the final set. Wozniacki in final Former world No. 1 Caroline Wozniacki fought her way to the Hong Kong Open final Saturday after beating defending champion Jelena Jankovic. Wozniacki will face France’s Kristina Mladenovic Sunday. Serbian Jankovic had a strong start but Wozniacki quickly took the lead in the middle of the first set and won the match 6-3, 6-4. In another hard-fought match, Australian player Daria Gavrilova lost to France’s Mladenovic 7-5, 6-3. Rain washes out semis Peng Shuai and Danka Kovinic were level at one set apiece in the semifinals of the Tianjin Open Saturday when play was suspended for the rest of the day due to rain. The match was scheduled to be completed Sunday with the score at 3-3 in the third set. Peng won the opening set 6-3, and Kovinic captured the second 7-5. Second-seeded Svetlana Kuznetsova will face Alison Riske in the second semifinal. The final was scheduled for later Sunday.