September 26, 2024
ATP Finals: Novak Djokovic beats Kevin Anderson to reach final
Novak Djokovic’s serving has been impeccable this week – he has not been broken at all in four matches
World number one Novak Djokovic put in a ruthless display to beat Kevin Anderson and reach the final of the ATP Finals in London.
The Serb will play Germany’s Alexander Zverev in Sunday’s season finale after a 6-2 6-2 victory.
In what was a re-run of July’s Wimbledon final, Djokovic dominated in the same way this time to reach his seventh final of the year.
The 14-time Grand Slam champion has not dropped a set all week.
“I think it was the best match I’ve played so far this week,” Djokovic said after sealing victory in one hour and 16 minutes with a forehand that bounced off the top of the net.
“It came at the right time. Kevin has been playing great tennis this week.
“He lost serve in the first game which was big because he relies so much on his serve. I tried to win as many points on his second serve as possible. It worked very well.”
Widely seen as the best returner in the game, Djokovic has in fact been notable for his impeccable serving this week.
He is yet to be broken in four matches – facing just two break points – and it took Anderson until the sixth game of the opening set to win his first point on the Serb’s serve.
The South African won only seven points on the Djokovic serve in the entire match.
Where Anderson delivered big serves that averaged more than 130mph, Djokovic’s were about the 114mph mark but were all about accuracy, placement and setting up the next shot.
He beat Anderson 6-4 on aces – no mean feat against a player so known for racking up the aces that he has been donating money to charity for each one this week.
And his total of first-serve points won was a huge 85%.
Asked in his on-court interview if it was some of the best serving he has produced, Djokovic replied: “Possibly. It is not very common to serve more aces than Kevin. That stat helps the confidence.”
Anderson was making his debut at the ATP Finals, having enjoyed a successful year where he won two titles and reached a career-high ranking of five.
But he was outclassed and under pressure from the off, with Djokovic breaking in the opening game and creating two further break points in Anderson’s next service game.
While the South African held off that challenge when Djokovic hit wide, he gifted him another break in the seventh game when he sent a forehand long.
The second set followed the same pattern with Djokovic capitalising on an Anderson double-fault to establish another early break.
A crosscourt forehand earned the top seed a break for 4-1 and while Anderson limited the damage in the next game with a hold, Djokovic served out the match with style.– bbc.com
