Dazzling Djokovic into World Tour Final

epa05036416 Switzerland’s Roger Federer in action against his compatriot Stanislas Wawrinka during their semi final match of the ATP World Tour Finals tennis tournament in London, Britain, 21 November 2015.

Wawrinka’s victory sealed second place behind group victor Rafael Nadal and the world No 4 will play six-time champion Federer later today in a rematch of last year’s stormy semi-final at the prestigious season-ending event at London’s O2 Arena.

“No, I am joking”.

After the apparent heckling by Federer’s wife Mirka towards Wawrinka during their match previous year which caused the post-match row, it was noticeable that umpire Ali Nili told the pair ahead of the match: ‘Let’s make this a good clean fight. I know it will be hard tomorrow.

Federer has won 17 of his 20 meetings with Wawrinka. “No blows below the waistline”.

Djokovic broke Nadal’s first service game to take a 2-0 lead Saturday and never looked back. Arms raised aloft like a gladiator who finally put paid to the lion showed you that he wanted to compete, but a rash of errors in both sets really let him down.

“It took a lot of time”, Djokovic said, playing down the importance of such statistics. He’s played a few great tennis since we’ve played. There is a lot at stake.

“When I feel like I’m dictating the pace, the match itself, most of the rallies, I feel like I’m on top of my opponent”. “But the performance today definitely gives me reason to believe that I’ll do that”.

Novak Djokovic, slight and light, leaned into his backhand approach on match point, sending it cross and crisp into the body of a speeding Rafael Nadal, who was curiously out of answers from the back of the court in the first of the last-four clashes of the Barclays ATP World Tour Final.

Although the victor doesn’t feel unbeatable, himself, his oppenent on the other disagrees, “Novak for the moment is nearly unbeatable”.

“I’m feeling slightly better than past year”, said the Swiss. After Saturday’s win, the Serb called this the “best season of his life”. It’s great to have the opportunity, but I’m not getting carried away. “I’m excited about that, as well”. In Sunday’s late evening title round, Djokovic will play Swiss Roger Federer, who beat the Serb in the group stage of the competition earlier in the week.

The Serb will look to crown one of the finest seasons since the Open era began with what would be a record fourth consecutive World Tour Finals title and fifth overall, having also won in Shanghai in 2008.

The win evened the head-to-record between the two players to 23-23, the first time Djokovic has managed to get level since the rivalry started in 2006.

A willingness to gamble intelligently was the defining feature of not only this game but his whole season, and Wawrinka, more content sticking to what he knows, did not have the diversity in his game to respond. He played just fantastic.

It was Federer who advanced 7-5 6-3 in another anticlimactic match, although the 34-year-old had to recover from 4-2 down in the first.