It certainly should. Earlier on Saturday, Djokovic ended Nadal’s encouraging resurgence at the World Tour Finals with a clinical semifinal win.
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Djokovic has now drawn level with Nadal for the first time in what is the most prolific rivalry since tennis turned professional.
And just to ramp up the degree of difficulty, he’ll have to do it against a bearded Roger Federer (on ESPN2 & WatchESPN, Sunday, 1 p.m. ET), who later defeated Swiss Davis Cup partner Stan Wawrinka 7-5, 6-3 in a light 70-minute workout.
Wawrinka led 4-2 in the opening set but, unlike against Andy Murray on Friday, his radar was off and Federer reeled off eight of the next nine games to take control.
Wawrinka will play Swiss compatriot Roger Federer on Saturday, while Rafael Nadal faces Novak Djokovic in the other semifinal.
“He was better than me and he deserved to do what he did during the whole season”, said Nadal. Djokovic’s next service game showed it’s first hint of strain as it’s bought to 30-30, but he pulled himself out of danger with a spectacular point that made Nadal move from corner to corner, before subjecting him to a passing forehand victor.
The 46th contest between Djokovic and Nadal finally saw the Spaniard’s slight edge overhauled, but the world No1 has been advancing on him inexorably in blocks of two major assaults for four years.
As well as closing his press conference wishing everyone a Merry Christmas, Happy New Year and looking forward (!) to seeing us all again, he also found the humour in his loss, saying: “He played just fantastic”.
Djokovic, who would have claimed a rare calendar-year grand slam this season but for a French Open final defeat by Wawrinka, suffered a first indoor defeat in 3-1/2 years against Federer this week, going down in straight sets.
Djokovic had lost just 10 points on serve and finished in spectacular style with another break, two superb lobs, a deft drop volley and two searing backhand winners closing it out. “I don’t feel unbeatable”, said Djokovic, “but it does definitely feel great when I’m playing the way I played today”.
Roger #Federer set up a World Tour Finals showdown with Novak #Djokovic on Sunday. “I couldn’t expect more”, the 30-year-old said.
Nadal missed the Tour Finals past year after appendicitis surgery, having missed three months of the season with a wrist injury following his loss to Nick Kyrgios at Wimbledon. It was an emphatic statement of intent and Djokovic backed up his early dominance with a flawless display that gave him the first set easily.
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“He’s played a few great tennis since we’ve played”, he said. There is a lot at stake. If you look at the last two years, nearly two and a half, I started to beat a lot of the top guys. Roger beat him on Tuesday in straights, but Sunday with a title on the line I think we’ll see a different, most determined Djokovic.
