Victory for Djokovic would secure his place in the semis, while a straight sets win would guarantee Federer a last four spot.
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The O2 Arena turned red, white and blue prior to the match as a minute’s silence was observed for the victims of Friday’s attacks in Paris.
Even though Djokovic has been almost unbeatable this season and with the 7,000-point ranking gap that the Serb now holds against Federer, the 17-time Swiss grand slam champion believes that the former is incapable of being overcome. I just need to prepare as best as I can and try to play a few good tennis.
Roger Federer had good reason to celebrate on Sunday, he made light work of Tomas Berdych in his opening ATP Tour Finals match, and he was presented with the Stefan Edberg Sportsmanship Award for an incredible 11th time.
“If I had (a solution), I wouldn’t share it with you, that’s for sure”, he quipped. “I’m 28 years old and there is a reason why I’ve managed to reach the peak of my physical, mental abilities at this stage of my life”. I was very consistent with my results, 2011 and 2015 definitely stand out.
“I think my serve was the key”.
Nishikori went on to break in the next game and that proved decisive for the eighth seed to get his first win of the competition, having lost his opener to Novak Djokovic.
The Japanese world number eight looked in trouble when he faced a break point at 3-3 in the deciding set but he finished fast to register his first win in Stan Smith Group.
Federer was in cruise control for the rest of the match as he only offered up two more games in the contest as Berdych was left dumbfounded by the Swiss player’s smart use of the drop shot which he used to devastating effect.
“I don’t think I’m that far off”, Federer said, according tosc The Telegraph.
He is likely to need a repeat against Federer in his final group match on Thursday to progress to the last four. “But to beat a guy like David Ferrer in straight sets is always encouraging and physically I felt good, so I’m happy about that”.
With the score even at 3-3 in the third set, the sixth-seeded Berdych had his third break point of the match – after converting the previous two – but he put a backhand into the net after a long rally.
“This doesn’t feel now so insane early because we’ve had the week of preparation, we’ve both had a match now”.
“I had focused more on beating Berdych and Nishikori and let’s see what happens against Novak”, 34-year-old Federer told reporters.
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Djokovic has given himself an excellent platform to qualify for the semifinals, and should be full of confidence for his next match, against Federer on Tuesday.
