Thank Djokovic’s genius for that.
Advertisement
Djokovic booked his ticket to a 5 final appearance with a statement win over Rafael Nadal – who seemed to have found his groove back in his post-US Open season, most especially in this tournament.
A mid-match haircut failed to help Andy Murray as he was well beaten by a resurgent Rafael Nadal at the ATP World Tour Finals.
Djokovic will be there to face Federer in the final on Sunday. The match could arguably be considered an uncharacteristic play from Djokovic, billed as the best receiver of the game today, as he only won 55% of his return points and was not able to save 4 of the 8 break points that he faced. I have to play my best if I want to have any chance, that’s what I’m gonna try.
Earlier, a below par Nadal spent two hours and 36 minutes beating fellow Spaniard David Ferrer 6-7 (2-7), 6-3, 6-4 to make sure he went into Saturday’s semifinal against World No. 1 Novak Djokovic with a 100 per cent record so far this week.
“I think it wouldn’t be fair for myself and it would be a little bit pretentious or arrogant if I say, yes, I’m in another league”. Fortunately for Djokovic, though, he was there to tap it back over and get the point. He doesn’t plan to be a no-show this year.
“We’ll see. Maybe he’s going to feel more relaxed, no pressure, go for it more, or maybe he’s not going to be completely here. I’d like to give myself credit for that, quite honestly”. Djokovic had the chance to gain the upper hand in their rivalry for the first time this week.
He broke for the second time, crucially, to win the match after outlasting Nadal in a back-and-forth tussle.
While the first set was tightly contested, the same couldn’t be said for the second as Federer rushed out to a 3-0 lead.
Jamie Murray and John Peers faced a winner-takes-all clash with Bob and Mike Bryan but saw five match points go begging before going down 6-7 (5-7), 7-6 (7/5), 16-14. But one sensed that a Djokovic break was always coming, and it duly arrived in the fifth game. Appropriately he sealed the match with a backhand victor.
Their 46 meetings are the most between any two players during the Open era, with Djokovic tying their head-to-head for the first time at 23-23 after 10 years.
“When somebody’s doing like this, just the only thing I can do is congratulate him and just wish not the best of luck for the next year”, Nadal told reporters, smiling.
Nadal, however, will probably leave London in good spirits.
World number one Novak Djokovic remains highly motivated by the prospect of raising his game to even greater heights, despite acknowledging that the 2015 season has been the best of his career regardless of whether he wins the ATP World Tour Finals yet again. The Serb leads the Tour with 10 titles and won his eighth, ninth and 10th grand slams this season.
He knows the danger Federer presents.
Advertisement
First he lost an indoor match for the first time in three years against Federer and was then below his best again in a tight win over Tomas Berdych. Asked what it was that made him so hard an opponent, the Spaniard said: “Everything”. I think he also likes playing me because he has a variety in his game with the slice, he comes to the net, takes away the time from me. He’s played a few great tennis since we’ve played. He’ll know it, too.
