RICKY’S TENNIS PREVIEW AND PICK FOR THE NITTO ATP FINALS CHAMPIONSHIP MATCH IN LONDON: DJOKOVIC VS. ZVEREV

Written by: Staff on 17th November 2018

RICKY'S TENNIS PREVIEW AND PICK FOR THE NITTO ATP FINALS CHAMPIONSHIP MATCH IN LONDON: DJOKOVIC VS. ZVEREV

epa07173881 Serbia's Novak Djokovic in action against South Africa's Kevin Anderson during their semi final match for the ATP World Tour Finals tennis tournament at the O2 Arena in London, Britain, 17 November 2018. EPA-EFE/WILL OLIVER |

By Ricky Dimon

When Novak Djokovic arrived in London in June, he was No. 21 in the world. He will leave London in November at the top of the world rankings. No.1. The only question now involves the size of the trophy.

Djokovic and Alexander Zverev will be facing each other for the fourth time in their careers and for the second time this week when they battle for the Nitto ATP Finals title on Sunday.

Only at this unique tournament can the same head-to-head matchup occur twice, and that will be the case after Djokovic thrashed Zverev 6-4, 6-1 during round-robin competition on Tuesday. The world No. 1 also coasted 6-2, 6-1 at the Shanghai Masters earlier this fall, so the alarm bells are ringing loudly for Zverev even though he once got the best of Djokovic 6-4, 6-3 in the 2017 Rome Masters final.

As if those scorelines are not daunting enough, Djokovic’s form also makes him a massive favorite on Sunday afternoon. He has improved to 35-2 in his last 37 matches with straight-set wins at London’s O2 Arena over Zverev, John Isner, Marin Cilic, and Kevin Anderson. Cilic at least managed to force one tiebreaker, but Anderson did not come close to doing that in Saturday’s semifinal nightcap, when Djokovic dominated 6-2, 6-2.

Germany’s Alexander Zverev reacts during his semi final match against Switzerland’s Roger Federer at the ATP World Tour Finals tennis tournament in London, Britain, 17 November 2018. EPA-EFE/WILL OLIVER

The third time at the O2 Arena has been the charm for Zverev, who did not advance out of round-robin action in his two previous trips to the Year End Championships. Despite his Tuesday loss to Djokovic, the 21-year-old defeated Cilic 7-6(5), 7-6(1) and Isner 7-6(5), 6-3 to set up a SF date with Roger Federer. Thanks to his best performance of the week, Zverev scraped past the 20-time major champion 7-5, 7-6(5) to reach his sixth final of the season.

“Novak right now is the best player in the world,” the German praised. “It’s very tough to beat him; he’s barely lost a match in the last six months. He’s playing amazing tennis. You have to play your best game to even have a chance; I hope I’ll be able to do that.”

Zverev’s best and only chance is to serve amazingly well and play his way into tiebreakers, where he is 3-0 so far this week. As for the underdog’s hopes in the return game, well, Djokovic has not been broken during the entire event. The Serb surrendered a mere six service points against Isner, five against Cilic, 14 against Zverev, and seven against Anderson. He is winning a laughable 82.9 percent of his service points through four matches.

All signs point to the 2018 campaign ending in appropriate fashion: with the best player on tour–by far–since the start of Wimbledon rolling again in straights.

Pick: Djokovic in 2