Novak Djokovic has edged closer to his fourth consecutive ATP Finals title after easing his way past Rafael Nadal 6-3, 6-3, during the semi-final of the ATP World Tour Finals.
In the lead up to the semi-finals match Djokovic has experienced mixed fortunes in the round-robin stage. A straight sets loss to Roger Federer, placed him in danger of not qualifying for the last four before he defeated Tomas Berdych in his final group match. In contrast Nadal’s route to the last four was victorious with a trio of wins over Andy Murray, David Ferrer and Stan Wawrinka.
The encounter between the two men was their 46th meeting, which is the highest number of matches between two players in the Open Era. Going into the match Nadal had a slight lead in the head-to-head with 23-22 ,however, Djokovic has won 7 out of their 8 most recent encounters.
Opening up the match with a 117 mph ace down the line, Djokovic fended off two spectacular forehand winners from Nadal before winning his opening service game with ease. The world No.1 was back to his best after enduring some below-par matches earlier this week. As Nadal conducted his first service game, the Serbian fired four winners past him in what was a virtually perfect game to grab the early break. Djokovic was clearly the sharpest player of the two after having a day off yesterday compared to Nadal, who endured two-hours-and-forty minutes on the court against David Ferrer on Friday. The early one-way surge was ended in the fourth game when Djokovic returned a deep serve from his opponent out, enabling the 9-time French Open champion to get himself on the scoreboard. The masterful play from the top seed continued as he produced a superb lob to extend the lead to 4-1.
Savour this exquisite backhand lob volley from @DjokerNole #finalshowdown https://t.co/kRsZ9udpkC https://t.co/mKzjWoDQW4
— TennisTV (@TennisTV) November 21, 2015
As the set progressed, Nadal’s serving improved with the Spaniard holding to love for the first time in the match to narrow the gap to 3-5. Despite the positive sign, the 14-time Grand Slam champion was unable to prevent Djokovic from taking the first set. A serve down the line triggered Nadal to return it into the net, giving the top seed the first set. Djokovic ended the set with 14 winners compared to Nadal’s 5.
Djokovic seemed poised to continue his dominance at the start of the second set as he once against had a break point against the Spaniards serve. This time however, he failed to convert as Nadal battled back to hold, prompting the Spanish player to produce a big fist clench. Despite the minor disappointment, Djokovic still refused to let his momentum slip, swiftly holding the following game to love. Returning the ball sublimely and moving Nadal around the court, it was only a matter of time before there was another break in Djokovic’s favor. After a lengthy exchange between the two players, Nadal buckled by failing to return the ball over the net, resulting in the top seed to lead by a set and a break. The path to victory was then a straightforward task for the dominating top seed. No mater what Nadal threw at him, Djokovic had a solution. A cross-court forehand into the net from Nadal aided Djokovic to extend his hold on the match to 5-3, just four points away from victory.
Watch this amazing volley at full stretch from @DjokerNole #finalshowdown https://t.co/kRsZ9udpkC https://t.co/0j9p8VyM7M — TennisTV (@TennisTV) November 21, 2015
As Nadal served to stay in the match, a beautiful backhand return down the line earnt Djokovic his first match point during a long game. He only required one chance as the world No.1 finished off his sublime performance with a backhand shot, his 24th winner of the match.
The win has enabled the world No.1 to tie his head-to-head with Nadal at 23-23, for the first time in his career. The Serbian now has a chance of creating history in the event. If he successfully wins in the Sunday final, Djokovic will become the first player in history to win four consecutive ATP Final titles. The title this week would also increase Djokovic’s earnings to over $20 million for the first time in his career.
In the Final Djokovic will play either Roger Federer or Stan Wawrinka, who will face-off against each other later tonight at 20:00 BST in the O2 Arena.
