Djokovic in ominous form at ATP finals

Before Sunday’s game, the ATP held a minute’s silence for the victims of the Paris attacks.

The Japanese world number eight looked in trouble when he faced a break point at 3-3 in the deciding set but he finished fast to register his first win in Stan Smith Group.

Kei Nishikori gave his hopes of qualifying for the last four of the World Tour Finals a major boost with a 7-5, 3-6, 6-3 victory over Tomas Berdych on Tuesday (Nov 17).

Yet, when asked about Djokovic’s dominance of men’s tennis and the distance between him and the Serb, the world No 3 said: “I don’t think I’m that far off”.

It has been an incredible year for Djokovic, who fell one victory short of a Grand Slam.

Roger Federer brushed aside Tomas Berdych in London to move to the top of the standings alongside Novak Djokovic on Day 1 of the World Tour Finals.

Berdych attributed the loss of the match to the loss of that point.

Unaffected by that sombre opening, Djokovic set about dismantling Nishikori in typically relentless fashion and landed the first blow with a break in the second game.

With the score even at 3-3 in the third set, the sixth-seeded Berdych had his third break point of the match – after converting the previous two – but he put a backhand into the net after a long rally.

The two tournament favorites have split 42 career meetings but lately Djokovic’s had the edge, and he won recently at the US Open on a court more suited to Federer.

“I thought I was playing really well in practice, I’ve had a good year”.

Berdych had other ideas, however, producing a five-game streak of his own to claw his way back into the contest and take the game to a third set for the first time in the singles competition.

“I think I played a solid match”, said Nadal who improves to 5-11 vs Top 10 players this year. “I didn’t feel I had any chance”. He is unbeaten since 2012 and is bidding to become the first player to win four successive World Tour Finals titles.

Djokovic thrashed Kei Nishikori 6-1 6-1 in an ominous performance to open the tournament.

Djokovic, though, has won four of their six matches in 2015, including the U.S. Open and Wimbledon finals. Definitely it’s going to be a different match than today.

Novak Djokovic has been in the form of his life this year – something he has spoken about before, and which he reiterated after his opening win in the competition on Sunday: “No question, it felt like the best tennis I played this year”.

“I lost one, and now I just need to refocus and get better for my next match, then just keep doing the same thing back and forth”.