Novak Djokovic is one win away from reclaiming his world number one position after crushing Kei Nishikori 6-1, 6-1, in the semifinals of the ATP Tour Finals in London.
The four-time defending champion knew that he had to dismiss his Japanese counterpart if he wants to have the chance of trying to end the year at the top of the Emirates rankings for the third consecutive season. Facing a player who he has beaten nine times in a row, Djokovic overwhelmed a faltering Nishikori in every aspect of the match throughout the opening set. It appeared that the Japanese player was feeling the after effects of his three sets win over Marin Cilic on Friday night as he hit a costly 16 unforced errors to give the Serbian a 6-1 lead.
“Kei was not obviously close to his best. The fact that he played late last night, it’s been a long year for him, long tournament, so he was probably a little bit tired.” Djokovic said about Nishikori’s performance.
Unknown as to why, the O2 Arena has always been a place of nightmares for Nishikori when he faces Djokovic. In their two previous meetings (2014 and 2015), Nishikori has barely been able to win a game against the Serbian.
In five of the six sets Novak Djokovic has played against Kei Nishikori at The O2, he has dropped no more than one game: 6-1 6-0 6-1 6-1 6-1
— Stuart Fraser (@stu_fraser) 19 November 2016
Djokovic was the one who had the desire, had the momentum and more importantly had the match. It was almost like his roller coaster second half of the season never occurred. Racing to a set and 4-0 lead, the outcome was inevitable. To the delight of his fans, Nishikori managed to grab a sole game in the second set before Djokovic completed his one-sided victory with back-to-back forehand cross-court winners.
“I started off very well and got a 4-0 lead and I pretty much excuted everything I tactically planned to do. That helps when you are playing a top player. Kei was obviously tired and not at his best tonight.” Said Djokovic.
“My level had been going in the right direction. I’m very glad I get to experience this feeling on the court. Now it’s coming up to the last match of the year. The match everybody anticipated. I hope we get a great final.”
“I can’t expect anything except to really get myself in the right state of mind and try to perform as well as I did tonight. That’s going to be my only goal.” The second seed said.
“Other than that, I must say that I’m very honored to be part of the history. I hear this is the first time in the history of the ATP that the two best players are deciding the rankings in the last match. That is something we should all be conscious of.”