TENNIS NEWS FROM LONDON – ROGER FEDERER TAKES DOWN NOVAK DJOKOVIC TO CLINCH SPOT IN THE WORLD ATP TOUR FINALS SEMIS-FINALS BY RICKY DIMON

Written by: Staff on 17th November 2015

TENNIS NEWS FROM LONDON - ROGER FEDERER TAKES DOWN NOVAK DJOKOVIC TO CLINCH SPOT IN THE WORLD ATP TOUR FINALS SEMIS-FINALS BY RICKY DIMON

epa05030348 Switzerland's Roger Federer returns the ball to Serbia's Novak Djokovic during their round robin game at the ATP World Tour Finals in London, Britain, 17 November 2015. EPA/WILL OLIVER |

World No. 1 and heavy favorite Novak Djokovic still has a chance to win the World Tour Finals, but he will not roll through London as an undefeated champion.

Roger Federer made sure of that on Tuesday night at the O2. Federer flipped the tournament’s anticipated script by upsetting Djokovic 7-5, 6-2 during round-robin action in Group Stan Smith. Federer clinched his spot in the semifinals by prevailing after one hour and 17 minutes.

A competitive opening set saw both plays hold serve en route to a 6-5 Federer advantage. That is when the 34-year-old stuck decisively, clinching break point and set point with a backhand drop-volley winner.

Federer appeared to take complete control with a break for 2-0 in the second, but Djokovic had other ideas–albeit briefly. The top-ranked Serb seized his first and only break of the day for 1-2 before getting back on level terms on 2-2. Nonetheless, it was nothing more than an aberration to what was an otherwise extremely uncharacteristic performance on Djokovic’s part. Federer quickly added breaks at 3-2 and 5-2 to close the match out in style.

“Credit to Roger for mixing up the pace, giving me always a different ball,” Djokovic remarked. “He used the slice and spin very wisely. He served very efficiently. I made a lot of–lot of–unforced errors. Just handed him the win, especially in the second set.”

Switzerland’s Roger Federer serves to Serbia’s Novak Djokovic during their round robin game at the ATP World Tour Finals in London, Britain, 17 November 2015. EPA/WILL OLIVER

Serbia’s Novak Djokovic returns the ball to Switzerland’s Roger Federer during their round robin game at the ATP World Tour Finals in London, Britain, 17 November 2015. EPA/WILL OLIVER

Federer had a different take on the matter.

“You still have to put him away,” the 17-time major champion explained. “It’s not an easy thing to do. It’s not like he played terrible. Why did he play that way? I’d like to give myself credit for that.”

In addition to securing a spot on semifinal Saturday, the win also gave Federer a 22-21 lead in the head-to-head series against Djokovic.

As for Djokovic, his semifinal fate is still in play heading into Thursday, when Federer’s last round-robin match against Kei Nishikori will precede Djokovic’s showdown with Tomas Berdych. The No. 1 seed will still qualify for the semis if he beats Berdych regardless of the score between Federer and Nishikori.

“Of course you never want to lose as an athlete,” Djokovic assured. “You’re not coming into these matches and these tournaments to lose. You’re coming to win. I have another group-stage match and I need to get through.”

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

Topics: 10sballs.com, ATP Finals, Barclays World Tour Finals, Novak Djokovic, Ricky Dimon, Roger Federer, Sports, Tennis

Follow 10SBALLS.COM on:

Facebook:

Twitter:

10sBalls_com says:

November 17, 2015 at 4:03 pm

#Tennis News From #London- #Federer Takes Down #Djokovic To Clinch Spot In The #ATPWorldTourFinals by @Dimonator
https://t.co/R4QZrLB77O
Dimonator says:

November 17, 2015 at 4:07 pm

RT @10sBalls_com: #Tennis News From #London- #Federer Takes Down #Djokovic To Clinch Spot In The #ATPWorldTourFinals by @Dimonator
https:/…
I_am_SoNa says:

November 17, 2015 at 7:52 pm

RT @10sBalls_com: #Tennis News From #London- #Federer Takes Down #Djokovic To Clinch Spot In The #ATPWorldTourFinals by @Dimonator
https:/…