Agence France-Presse
London, Nov 20: Novak Djokovic set up an ATP Tour Finals showdown against Rafael Nadal as the defending champion booked his semifinal berth with a 6-3, 7-5 victory over Tomas Berdych, while Roger Federer defeated Kei Nishikori to eliminate the Japanese star here Thursday evening.
After Federer’s 7-5, 4-6, 6-4 win earlier in the day, World No.1 Djokovic knew he would advance to the last four if he could secure one set against Berdych in his concluding group match at London’s O2 Arena.
The Serb, a winner of three Grand Slam titles this year, wasted little time achieving that goal as he took the first set to ensure he would finish second in the group behind Federer and eventually eased to victory in 89 minutes. It was his 20th victory over Berdych in 22 meetings.
Djokovic’s bid to win the Tour Finals for a record fourth successive year is likely to face a sterner test Saturday from his old rival Nadal, who has looked in fine form during his group matches. In 2015, the Serbian has clashed twice against the Spaniard winning on both occasions.
Federer, who has won the Tour Finals a record six times, will face either Andy Murray or Stan Wawrinka, who clash Friday, in the semifinals.
Needing to take just one set to advance, 10-time Grand Slam champion Djokovic, responded to only his sixth defeat of the season by quickly seizing the initiative against Berdych. He fired off a string of winners and took seven of the first eight points to break in the second game of the first set.
Berdych broke straight back, but Djokovic got a lucky break that helped him seal the set when the former Wimbledon runner-up failed to challenge on a call that would have gone in his favour.
In the second set, both players exchanged breaks early on, but then in the 11th game, the Serbian got the crucial break and then closed out the set comfortably.
Federer had already clinched a record 13th Tour Finals semifinal place after ending Djokovic’s three-month unbeaten run.
But the 34-year-old still needed to beat Nishikori to be certain of advancing as the group winner and he finished the job in two hours and 10 minutes to emerge from the first phase with a 100 per cent record for the seventh time.
“It was a really important one (match) for me, to move on (to the semifinals) with a good feeling,” Federer said. “There are points on the line and prestige, wanting to beat Kei, winning at the O2. I want to do well here.”