ATP-Finals
Dominic Thiem’s next opponent at the ATP Finals in London is Novak Djokovic. The Serbian world number one prevailed on Friday in a direct duel for promotion against the German Alexander Zverev with 6: 3 7: 6 (7/4). With his second win in the “Tokyo 1970” group, Djokovic took second place behind Russian Daniil Medvedev, who had already secured group victory before that.
For the ninth time in his career, Djokovic is in the semifinals of the final tournament of the eight best players of the year. In total, the 33-year-old Serb has already won the “Masters” five times. “I felt great. I served very well in the important moments, and that helped me. In contrast to the defeat against Medvedev, this time I hit the right strokes at the right time, ”said Djokovic.
Zverev, who won the 2018 ATP finals in the final against Djokovic, missed his third semifinals in a row. “I started very badly. If you take away the first three games, I found that I actually played a good match and had chances, ”said Zverev:“ I showed good tennis after 3-0.
Zverev overslept at the beginning
Djokovic laid the foundation for the sentence management in the first few minutes. The Serb made twelve of the first 14 points and quickly moved away to 3-0. Zverev was able to improve after the botched start, but ran after the break in vain. With a score of 2: 4, the German had two chances of the rebreak, but Djokovic made four points in a row thanks to strong serves and had set one in his pocket after 33 minutes.
In the second set a duel developed on an equal footing. Both players did not act confidently with their own service. Zverev had the most trouble, after defending two breakballs, he made it 3-2. Before that, the German himself had given a break chance. Then there was a tie-break in a duel between Djokovic and Zverev. The Serb turned a 0/2 deficit.
ATP World Tour Finals in London
(Great Britain, $ 5.7 million, indoor, hard court)
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