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.
“I have pain on my arm,” Tsonga said. “I’ve had this since three days. It was really difficult for me to hit the ball well and hard enough. That’s why I took this decision.”
Djokovic narrowed the Tsonga lead in their career series to 4-5, after beating the Frenchman in a Wimbledon semi-final.
Djokovic is trying to become the first player to win five ATP World Tour Masters 1000 titles in a season.
Sixth seed Fish, who won Atlanta in July and then played the final in Los Angeles a week later while suffering with a heel injury, has lost all six of his matches against Djokovic.
“I’m obviously extremely pleased with the way I played,” said Fish after winning his semi-final. “It felt like I had the upper hand for most of the match. Minus a small serving hiccup, I think I played very well.
“It’s been a great week. Obviously it’s been well documented that I haven’t been here and haven’t done well at all in this tournament.”
Fish has burst into prominence this season after losing 20 kilograms following knee surgery in September, 2009, which streamlined both his body and his game.
The former fast food fanatic says he is now on a strict diet.
The fasting regime has paid off with two titles in 2010 and hardcourt success in 2011 as he heads into the US Open with a Top-10 seeding as the leading American in the world, ranked eighth to the 12th of Andy Roddick.
Fish was the third different American since 2000 to reach the semi-finals in Canada, joining Roddick and Andre Agassi, both former champions.
Roddick, a 2009 semi-finalist, is the last player from south of the border to win a Canadian event, taking the title in 2003 while Fish has become the first American finalist since Agassi six years ago.
He made the final in just 76 minutes with six aces and three breaks of serve for his 33rd victory of the season against 15 losses.
