Novak Djokovic takes three-set win over Dominic Thiem — ATP London

A dominant Djokovic reeled off 11 of the first 13 games annihilating alternate David Goffin, 6-1, 6-2, to complete World Tour Finals round-robin play with a flawless 3-0 record in the Ivan Lendl Group.

“For a lot of the players, we would play it regardless of whether there’s points or not”.

“Right now I think I’ve put myself in a good situation”. Obviously that increases as you get into the semis, potentially in the final. The 2014 US Open champion will spearhead the four-man team alongside Ivo Karlovic, Borna Coric and Ivan Dodig and will be buoyed by his first ever win at the season finale. “We need to try and enjoy it”.

Earlier, Djokovic won the group and qualified for the semifinals with a ideal 3-0 record.

I stepped up at the beginning of the second set and the end of it.

It was 2-0 to Stan when they met here at the O2 a year ago and Murray hasn’t beaten Wawrinka on a hard court at main level since Tokyo 2012, so he can’t take anything for granted on Friday. Stan came out hitting the ball huge.

Murray, the Wimbledon champion and Olympic gold medallist, showed little sign of fatigue during the encounter with the highly-rated Swiss, victor of two Grand Slam titles, despite a gruelling battle with Japan’s Kei Nishikori on Wednesday (November 16) and emerged victorious from a tense first set. I’m very proud of Jamie.

The only real moment of unhappiness for the defending champion, who has lost just one match here since 2011, came after he received a time violation in the following game.

Novak Djokovic won his third straight match at the ATP finals on Thursday, finishing group play undefeated for the fourth time in the past five years.

With Djokovic playing in the evening, Murray won’t want to take any chances and push home a win. I don’t think that makes a whole lot of difference. “Hopefully there will be another three days to this season and I’ll do my best to get through them”, Murray said.

Murray knew he only needed to take one set to be certain of reaching the last four, but he had to win the match to be assured of topping the group. That’s all I know. “I played poor tennis at that stage”.

The two players also played even in the rallies, with the big-serving Raonic not only getting a lot of easy points with his most potent weapon but also winning half of the points that lasted five shots or more. “I felt the most comfortable, definitely, so far in the tournament”. It could have snowed in O2 Arena as well, but it didn’t. The forecast for the final tournament ATP 18 November.

An ATP spokesman said: “The tournament’s location beyond 2018 is yet to be determined”.

To win the group and avoid playing Djokovic in the semi-finals, Murray must either win, or lose in three sets and hope Nishikori beats Cilic in three sets.

Now the Davis Cup is run throughout the year with the World Group first round immediately after the Australian Open, the quarter-finals on the back of Wimbledon and the semi-finals hot on the heels of the U.S. Open.