The Spanish football game hardly ever disappoints as a spectacle. Thank Djokovic’s genius for that.
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Novak Djokovic produced a spellbinding performance at the O2 Arena to cruise past Rafael Nadal in the ATP World Tour Finals semi-final. “He played a great match against Rafa earlier today and I’m sure it will be a fantastic meeting”.
Djokovic will now play the victor of the other semi-final, an all-Swiss affair.
While Djokovic rested after completing his group campaign on Thursday, Nadal slugged it out with Ferrer in a draining baseline battle that lasted two hours and 37 minutes.
Andy Murray clearly endured heavy disappointment when Stan Wawrinka bundled him out of the 2015 ATP World Tour Finals in two sets here on Friday night – but there was also discernible relief that he can now shift his attention to helping Great Britain win the Davis Cup in Belgium next weekend. He saved two break points to hold for 1-3, then saved a match point to hold for 3-5, but he was only ultimately delaying the inevitable. He won all three group matches, including against Roger Federer.
On top of that, there was a bust-up – Wawrinka taking umbrage at what he saw as inappropriate words from Federer’s wife Mirka from the players’ box at a key point in the third set.
In 2011 and 2012 he lost seven straight matches to Djokovic, all in finals, but then turned the tables by winning six of the next seven.
“He’s had a tremendous year”, Federer told the crowd.
“I’ve had a terrific career and I’m very proud obviously with my team to be able to achieve what I have achieved in the last 10 years of professional tennis, but I still feel like I want to do more and I can do more”.
“For me it’s an advantage because I guess it gives me a bit of confidence”.
“He has the flawless game against my game”, said Wawrinka, the only man besides Djokovic to win a major this year.
Djokovic sizzled from the outset, hitting eight winners to build a 3-0 lead, and protected his serve with aplomb – dropping just 10 points overall and never facing a break point.
The result went the same way with Federer triumphing 7-5, 6-3, but this 70-minute encounter was all rather comfortable in the end for the 17-time Grand Slam champion. It will get even better on Saturday if he can buck the trend of the whole tennis season and put one over on Djokovic.
Nadal said after the match that the Serb is “almost unbeatable” when in this mood.
Djokovic will have a chance to even the head-to-head series against Federer, too.
The Swiss player was 6-5 up in the blink of an eye as he sent down a few good deliveries and backed them up with a few straightforward winners. He responded by beating Czech Tomas Berdych. The effort required the Serb’s best tennis, as he outlasted the Spaniard in a rally.
Djokovic, speaking before Federer’s win over Wawrinka, said: “When he’s [Federer] on, it’s hard to play him”. “I think he also likes playing me because he has variety in his game with the slice, he comes to the net, takes away the time from me, so forth”.
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There was a lot at stake for Murray as he simply had to beat Wawrinka to confirm his place in the semi-finals. He’ll know it, too.
