NOVAK DJOKOVIC IS TAKING SCALPS THIS WEEK , TODAY IT WAS STAN’S TURN BY GLOBAL CHICK

Written by: Global Chick on 12th November 2014

NOVAK DJOKOVIC IS TAKING SCALPS THIS WEEK , TODAY IT WAS STAN'S TURN BY GLOBAL CHICK

epa04487231 Novak Djokovic of Serbia celebrates his win over Stan Wawrinka of Switzerland after their Round Robin match for the ATP World Tour Finals at the O2 Arena in London, Britain, 12 November 2014. EPA/FACUNDO ARRIZABALAGA |

Promising start by Wawrinka dwindles into another early finish for fans

It started so promisingly, as Stan Wawrinka started with the same confident free-swinging style as he had against Tomas Berdych in the first round robin match. Surely a mate against the two winners of the first matches would yield our most competitive match to date.

It certainly started out that way with a break to the Swiss, and his hold, putting the defending champion Novak Djokovic on the back foot. Popcorn was being handed out, people were settling in for a tennis game of chess with two of this year’s Grand Slam champions ready to do battle, like pristine gladiators.

Then Djokovic got to grips with his service game, holding to love and from there he did not look back, winning the next five games on the bounce.

Wawrinka stemmed the flow – well he could do no worse having given up eight points in a row, and got back a game, but that was the last time the board technician would be called into action for the Wawrinka button this evening.

That Djokovic wrapped up the set was no surprise. That he started with verve and all the momentum – no surprise either. But that this year’s Australian Open champion would only go on to earn another seven points was a surprise.

This match had the promise to be the competitive duel we all wanted to see. Instead we were treated to Djokovic as the puppet master pulling all the strings as he notched up his 29th straight win indoors.

The Serb is now just one win away from the year-end World No. 1 ranking, and with the prospect of Berdych in the next round, who felt h had improved but was still not playing his best, it is hard to see him not advancing and topping the rankings tree in one fell swoop.

He said: “I just played very solid from all over the court. I think I covered the court very well, got a lot of balls back, mixed up the pace, got him off the comfort zone.That’s something that was part of my game plan. After I lost the first two games, you know, obviously I didn’t start so great. I thought he played very well the first two games. But, again, I wasn’t frustrated. I kept my calm. After that, was a really amazing performance.”

Stan Wawrinka of Switzerland returns the ball against Novak Djokovic of Serbia during their Round Robin match for the ATP World Tour Finals at the O2 Arena in London, Britain, 12 November 2014. EPA/FACUNDO ARRIZABALAGA

Novak Djokovic of Serbia serves against Stan Wawrinka of Switzerland during their Round Robin match for the ATP World Tour Finals at the O2 Arena in London, Britain, 12 November 2014. EPA/FACUNDO ARRIZABALAGA

It was left to Wawrinka to shrug, smile and offer up some kind of reason why he could not make any sort of impact past the first two games of the match.

“He put me in a position that I think a little bit too much. I’m not really clear what I’m going to do, because he’s doing everything well and he’s returning well.”

He continued: “The serve was not good enough. Then I start to do mistake because here the conditions are really low. His ball is always coming to me and I cannot really mix the spin and try to get higher ball to try to attack him.”

Earlier in the day the battle between Tomas Berdych and Marin Cilic followed the one-sided norm, with Berdych ensuring his spotless record at least where the second round robin match is concerned remained intact as he defeated the US Open champion whose trip to London is amounting to the kind of horrors reserved for tourists at the London Dungeons or the Tower of London.

Berdych will now face Djokovic in the final round robin match, and is already eyeing this as the last of the season, although with Wawrinka’s return to his post US Open form, it could all be to play for with the No. 2 slot.

Topics: Atp World Tour, Barclays Championships, global chick, Marin Cilic, Novak Djokovic, Stan Wawrinka, Tennis, Tomas Berdych

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10sBalls_com says:

November 12, 2014 at 8:54 pm

#NovakDjokovic IS TAKING SCALPS THIS WEEK, TODAY IT WAS @stanwawrinka’s TURN BY GLOBAL CHICK- http://t.co/wcelIMJDM4 #tennis @DjokerNole