With two more group ties remaining against six-time champion Roger Federer and Tomas Berdych, who meet later on Sunday, Djokovic’s stroll by the banks of the River Thames was a significant statement of intent to his rivals for the title.
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“Undoubtedly it has been the best season and the best year of my life – I became a father and I got married”, he said.
The world number one would probably have beaten most players, even with the errors piling up and his serve out of sync, but not Swiss great Federer who sealed a semi-final spot with a match to spare.
Right now, Novak Djokovic is about as good as it gets on a tennis court.
“It was one of the worst starts I’ve had in years”, he said.
Nishikori beat Djokovic in the 2014 U.S. Open semifinals, but the 25-year-old Japanese player has lost to the 10-time Grand Slam champion four times since then. I think my serve was the key as in both sets I lost my first service game.
“It’s going to be a really big challenge for me to play Roger”.
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.
Meanwhile Federer, the oldest Tour Finals qualifier since Andre Agassi in 2005, is undeniably in the twilight of his career, yet the 34-year-old is still good enough to compete for the sport’s top prizes and is in the hunt for a semi-final berth once again after easing past Berdych in 69 minutes.
Federer’s best chance, logically, of beating Djokovic these days would be on a quick court, but he was unable to do so in either the Wimbledon or US Open finals and with the surface at the o2 playing slow, it’s nigh on impossible to see Federer getting past Djokovic’s iron-clad defence.
Federer garnered a massive 65 percent of the votes, with Nadal coming in second in the voting followed by Novak Djokovic, Andy Murray and Kei Nishikori.
Sixth seed Berdych seemed to surrender after losing a couple of tight games at the beginning of the second, perhaps haunted by the memory of his dismal record at the season-ending event.
The red and white flags made a fluttering appearance when Nishikori finally held in the fourth game but the joy was fleeting as Djokovic easily sealed the first set before finishing off his opponent with a backhand volley.
“I’m very ashamed with this score”, second-time qualifier Nishikori, who will hope for a better showing in his next two round robin matches, said.
“I don’t think I’m that far off”, Federer said, according tosc The Telegraph. “From my point of view, just try to do the best we can, finish on a high, try to make a great year even better”.
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It will be a rematch of last year’s ill-fated final where Federer was forced to withdraw before a ball was struck due to injury.
