Novak Djokovic ensured he would end another year as world No. 1 while adding another processional victory to a long list at the ATP World Tour Finals with his 6-2, 6-2 demolition of subdued Czech Tomas Berdych on Friday.
The Serb, virtually guaranteed a semi-final berth before walking on court at the O2 Arena, made doubly sure by cruising past Berdych in little more than an hour.
He was to face Japan’s Kei Nishikori in yesterday’s first semi-final, before Roger Federer plays his Swiss compatriot Stanislas Wawrinka in the evening match, following Wawrinka’s 6-3, 4-6, 6-3 victory over Marin Cilic on Friday.
Photo: EPA
A day after Roger Federer dropped only one game beating home favourite Andy Murray to win Group B, Djokovic was also in ruthless mood to top Group A and guarantee ending the year as world No. 1 for the third time.
Seven-times Grand Slam champion Djokovic has now topped the closing standings for three of the past four years.
“To be able to stand next to this trophy and to have the crown for all the achievements in this 12 months, it’s very fulfilling and it’s a joy,” Djokovic said after being presented with the year-end No. 1 trophy in front of a parade of former world No. 1’s, including his coach, Boris Becker.
Photo: AFP
“The tournament is not over. I have maybe a few hours of celebration and then turning back to the semi-finals and preparing for it,” he said.
Djokovic’s 30th indoor victory in succession since the ATP World Tour Finals in 2012, lined up another meeting with Nishikori after the Japanese debutant finished second in Group B.
After a series of one-sided encounters throughout the week, Berdych’s capitulation felt like no great surprise as he slipped 4-0 behind in the opening set against a man playing at a sublime level.
“I think it just shows how great he is, how well he has played during the whole season,” Berdych said of Djokovic’s confirmation as year-end No. 1.
Later on Friday, Wawrinka set up a meeting with Federer, his partner in the Davis Cup final for Switzerland next weekend, needing just 12 minutes to win the three games that guaranteed a semi-final place for a second year running.
Fresh from breaking Cilic’s serve to move into that 3-1 lead, Wawrinka looked sharp and in no mood to let up, taking the first set in 32 minutes. It looked odds on that an 11th encounter among the 12 round-robin matches would not go beyond two sets.
Instead, the rarity of a proper contest breaking out suddenly materialized when Wawrinka threw in an absent-minded service game at 4-5 in the second set, getting broken to love.
In the decider, Wawrinka, perhaps already thinking ahead to the Federer game, seemed even more distracted and was again immediately broken, but he regrouped and broke back, reeling off four straight games to prevail after 1 hour, 45 minutes.
By the end, Australian Open champion Wawrinka was playing with some of the panache he will need to earn a rare win over Federer, who leads 14-2 in their head-to-heads, and Cilic finally capitulated with a double fault on the final point.
It was one of the better games of a tournament that has had more than its share of flat spots, but the sell-out crowds will be hoping for a couple of closer semi-finals with the alluring prospect of a Djokovic-Federer final showdown today.
MEDVEDEV AWAITS: The world No. 1 Spainiard said that he is ‘finding the right shots’ as he pushed his record so far this year to 16 victories and no losses Carlos Alcaraz on Thursday extended his unbeaten season and got revenge over Cameron Norrie to reach the semi-finals at Indian Wells for a fifth straight year. The world No. 1 from Spain emerged from a see-saw battle with 29th-ranked Norrie with a 6-3, 6-4 victory. In the semis tomorrow, he faces Russian Daniil Medvedev, who pushed his own ATP winning streak to eight matches with a 6-1, 7-5 victory over defending champion Jack Draper. World No. 2 Jannik Sinner powered past Learner Tien 6-1, 6-2 to line up a semi-final with fourth-ranked Alexander Zverev, a 6-2, 6-3 winner over Arthur Fils. Alcaraz, 22, became
West Ham United on Monday advanced to the FA Cup quarter-finals with a 5-3 penalty shoot-out win against Brentford, who paid the price for Dango Ouattara’s spot-kick blunder. Nuno Espirito Santo’s side twice blew the lead as Jarrod Bowen’s double was canceled out by an Igor Thiago brace to force extra-time in the 2-2 draw at the London Stadium, but in the shoot-out, Brentford winger Ouattara attempted a chipped Panenka penalty, but his woeful effort was straight at West Ham goalkeeper Alphonse Areola. It was an awful mistake by the Burkina Faso international and West Ham took full advantage. Bowen, Valentin Castellanos, Callum
Thanks to Italy beating Mexico on Wednesday, the US get another chance in the World Baseball Classic (WBC). What looked like a potentially disastrous early exit for US manager Mark DeRosa and his team turned out to be nothing more than substantial worry and significant embarrassment for about 24 hours. It remains to be seen whether the US really want to win badly enough for the reprieve to matter, as if it is just a switch they can flick, but there is little reason for their fans to be optimistic. The team’s attitude and behavior have been all over the place when
Ollie Watkins’ second-half header on Thursday gave Aston Villa a 1-0 win over Lille OSC in the first leg of their UEFA Europa League round-of-16 tie. Just past the hour mark, Ezri Konsa sent a deep pass that Emi Buendia headed to Watkins in the home team’s box. The England forward noticed goalkeeper Berke Ozer was off his line before sending a looping header over him and into the net. Minutes later, Watkins wasted a chance to double the advantage when he failed to score in a one-on-one with the ’keeper. Nottingham Forest were stunned 1-0 by Danish club Midtjylland, with substitute Cho
RSS