NOVAK DJOKOVIC DEFEATS TOMAS BERDYCH, HE GUARANTEES A LONDON SEMIFINAL SHOWDOWN AGAINST RAFA THE BULL NADAL, WHILE ROGER FEDERER WILL PLAY EITHER STAN THE MAN WAWRINKA OR ANDY MURRAY BY RICKY DIMON

Written by: Staff on 19th November 2015

NOVAK DJOKOVIC DEFEATS TOMAS BERDYCH, HE GUARANTEES A LONDON SEMIFINAL SHOWDOWN AGAINST RAFA THE BULL NADAL, WHILE ROGER FEDERER WILL PLAY EITHER STAN THE MAN WAWRINKA OR ANDY MURRAY BY RICKY DIMON

epa05033294 Serbia's Novak Djokovic in action against Tomas Berdych of the Czech Republic during the ATP Tour tennis finals tournament at the O2 Arena in London, Britain, 19 November 2015. EPA/ANDY RAIN |

With one day still remaining in round-robin competition at the World Tour Finals, the first blockbuster semifinal is already assured: Novak Djokovic vs. Rafael Nadal.

After Nadal clinched first place in Group Ilie Nastase, Djokovic snagged the second seed from Group Stan Smith by taking care of Tomas Berdych 6-3, 7-5 on Thursday night. The world No. 1 was broken twice but more than made up for those blemishes with four breaks of his own to prevail in one hour and 29 minutes.

Afterward, Djokovic assured that his level was better than it had been two days earlier in a loss to Roger Federer but still not up to the standard of his opening 6-1, 6-1 beatdown of Kei Nishikori.

“We both could have done better,” the three-time defending champion assessed. “We didn’t play on such a high level. We are aware of that.”

Tomas Berdych of the Czech Republic in action against Serbia’s Novak Djokovic during the ATP Tour tennis finals tournament at the O2 Arena in London, Britain, 19 November 2015. EPA/ANDY RAIN

That gave Berdych an opening and the Czech responded by recovering breaks in each of the two sets. In the end, though, he was doomed by winning only seven of 24 second-serve points.

“I think there was a slight good chance (that I could win),” Berdych said. “But that’s how it is. It was quite a few mistakes in the tough moments. That was [decisive] today.”

Because of today’s result (Djokovic actually had to take only one set to advance), it will be Djokovic vs. Nadal for the 46th time on Saturday.

The head-to-head series stands at 23-22 in favor of Nadal, but Djokovic is 3-0 against the Spaniard in 2015. They most recently faced each other in the Beijing title match, where the top seed cruised 6-2, 6-2. Djokovic has been dominant of late, winning seven of their last eight meetings dating back to the fall of 2013.

Saturday’s nighttime semifinal will pit Federer against the winner of Friday’s Andy Murray vs. Stan Wawrinka contest.

Ricky contributes to 10sballs.com and also maintains his own tennis website, The Grandstand.

Topics: 02 Arena, 10sballs.com, Barclays World Tour Finals, London tennis, Novak Djokovic, Ricky Dimon, Tennis News, Tomas Berdych

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10sBalls_com says:

November 19, 2015 at 5:11 pm

-@DjokerNole Defeats #Berdych, He Guarantees A #London Showdown Against #Nadal… by @Dimonator
https://t.co/AjiYgVqAQv #WorldTourFinals
Dimonator says:

November 19, 2015 at 5:19 pm

RT @10sBalls_com: -@DjokerNole Defeats #Berdych, He Guarantees A #London Showdown Against #Nadal… by @Dimonator
https://t.co/AjiYgVqAQv …