Djokovic Roars Past Thiem in ATP Finals Opener

Kei Nishikori is no longer just making up the numbers at the tennis world tour’s season-ending tournament, with a big result this year in London a realistic goal, he says.

The young Austrian returned a bit in the all-important third and final set but with Djokovic back in the groove, it was only a matter of time.

Kicking off the evening’s action will be the second doubles match of the Fleming/McEnroe group with French Open winners Feliciano Lopez and Marc Lopez up against Henri Kontinen and John Peers.

From there, Djokovic only dropped two games en route to closing out a three set victory.

Nishikori’s movement was sharper and his ball-striking cleaner, and he earned his rewards with five games in a row to win the first set.

Murray’s reign might only last a couple of weeks, with Djokovic able to claim back the number one ranking simply by doing better at London’s O2 Arena next week.

Murray, who revealed his preparations would not include a trip to Wembley for Scotland’s World Cup qualifier against England, said: “The first few years here I played well”.

Kei Nishikori of Japan reacts to a point against Andy Murray of Great Britain during their 2016 US Open men’s singles quarterfinals match at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center on September 7, 2016 in NY.

Thiem would win a marathon opening extra session, taking it 12-10 thanks to this wicked forehand victor.

“It’s wonderful what’s hes doing right now with his consistency and how he keeps winning”, Wawrinka said.

World No.3 Stan Wawrinka certainly expects Murray to hold on to te top rankung, saying: “The ranking never lies”.

Caroline Garcia had earlier given France a 2-1 lead with a 6-3, 3-6, 6-3 win over sixth-ranked Pliskova.

Djokovic reacted angrily to the setback and sent a ball flying off towards his coaches, Boris Becker and Marian Vajda, who were sat in the crowd. As well as Thiem, the Serb will face Canada’s Wimbledon runner-up Milos Raonic and Gael Monfils.

His outburst fired Djokovic up as he broke Thiem in the first game and continued to blank the Austrian in 22 minutes.

Djokovic ended up prevailing 6-7 (10), 6-0, 6-2 in Group B’s first round-robin contest after two hours and two minutes.

“All in all it was a very good year that I’m proud of”.

“It was a good match with a great first set”.

He added: “In recent months may not have played at their best, but I believe it will recover”.

Milos Raonic was a victor on the opening day, beating Gael Monfils 6-3 6-4, while Jamie Murray and his Brazilian partner Bruno Soares defeated Treat Huey and Max Mirnyi 6-4 7-5 in the doubles.