With one day still remaining in round-robin competition at the World Tour Finals, the first blockbuster semifinal is already assured: Novak Djokovic vs. Rafael Nadal.
After Nadal clinched first place in Group Ilie Nastase, Djokovic snagged the second seed from Group Stan Smith by taking care of Tomas Berdych 6-3, 7-5 on Thursday night. The world No. 1 was broken twice but more than made up for those blemishes with four breaks of his own to prevail in one hour and 29 minutes.
Afterward, Djokovic assured that his level was better than it had been two days earlier in a loss to Roger Federer but still not up to the standard of his opening 6-1, 6-1 beatdown of Kei Nishikori.
“We both could have done better,” the three-time defending champion assessed. “We didn’t play on such a high level. We are aware of that.”
That gave Berdych an opening and the Czech responded by recovering breaks in each of the two sets. In the end, though, he was doomed by winning only seven of 24 second-serve points.
“I think there was a slight good chance (that I could win),” Berdych said. “But that’s how it is. It was quite a few mistakes in the tough moments. That was [decisive] today.”
Because of today’s result (Djokovic actually had to take only one set to advance), it will be Djokovic vs. Nadal for the 46th time on Saturday.
Because of today’s result (Djokovic actually had to take only one set to advance), it will be Djokovic vs. Nadal for the 46th time on Saturday.
The head-to-head series stands at 23-22 in favor of Nadal, but Djokovic is 3-0 against the Spaniard in 2015. They most recently faced each other in the Beijing title match, where the top seed cruised 6-2, 6-2. Djokovic has been dominant of late, winning seven of their last eight meetings dating back to the fall of 2013.
Saturday’s nighttime semifinal will pit Federer against the winner of Friday’s Andy Murray vs. Stan Wawrinka contest.
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Semis will be great…I like Joker in straight.
Its strange if Djokovic wins the tournament, he will be equaling head to head against Nadal and Federer simultaneously at the same time in Semifinal and Final respectively. What a coincidence it will be if it happens!
I like Nadal in straight
In their recent encounters I tend to rely on Novak’s drop in concentration, or sudden physical constraints, or miracles to happen so that Rafa can beat him…I ‘ve learned not to be so naive…Novak will be focused as ever because this match (given Fed’s level of yesterday) is kind of final before the finals…
Rafa of Beijing and Rafa of today are two different people which can hardly be compared…to this end I believe Rafa will be on the top of the task…I am certain that Rafa will do his all to be competitive and to try to beat the No1…
I suspect Rafa has an ace up his sleeve…he should be able to implement a different tactics against Nole…we shall see…I expect Rafa to be punished for occasional loss of focus or bad serving by losing a set…but I want to believe Rafa will make it a competitive thriller and hopefully emerge victorious in the end…
Is Rafa ready now or we will have to wait for the AO 2016 to see him beating Novak? …we shall see…no matter what, Rafa has showed significant improvement and I hope he continues in that manner…
Vamos Rafa!
I’ve learned not to base expectations on performances leading up to a match; if I did that Rafa wins but this is a new match and no one knows how it will pan out. It’s 50/50 as it’s always been between them throughout their careers.
Rafa deserves a win because he has worked so hard to be competitive so I hope he wins. It will do his morale a world of good.
I notice that Ricky hasn’t made a prediction.
he will do a full preview I am sure. This is a match report kind of thing
that we’re even talking about this match before Nadal’s match against Ferrer says a lot about its interest…