Top seed Novak Djokovic continued his bid for a fifth straight WTFs title!
The world no.2 overcame a strong challenge from no.4 seed Milos Raonic to reach the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals last four with a 7-6 (6), 7-6 (5) win on Tuesday.
Nole needed two hours and 14 minutes for the second round-robin victory and remained top of the Group “Ivan Lendl”.
The Serbian ace extended his lead over the Canadian in the FedEx ATP Head2Head to 8-0.
It was another solid performance by the four-time defending champion who recorded a big win in a great match with a lot of excitement.
Novak prevailed in a gripping first set tie-break when Raonic double-faulted. The Canadian fell behind twice in the second set, but used Novak’s lapse of concentration to come back into the contest. The second set tie-break followed a similar pattern to the first. The Belgrade native found a way to come through a major test and claim a hard-fought triumph.
“It was a very close match,” said Djokovic. “I think very few points separated us tonight. It really could have gone either way. I was fortunate to get through the first set tie-break. I was down very early in both tie-breaks tonight. But I just managed to stay committed and put pressure on his second serves. Again, two tie-breaks against a big server is a great win and great confidence boost.”
Match statistics: aces (2-14), double faults (2-3), winners (11-42), unforced errors (22-27), total points won (85-83).
Novak will meet first alternate David Goffin in his final round-robin match at The O2 in London on Friday at 15:00 CET. He has a 4-0 record against the Belgian, including victory in the 2016 Miami Open semifinal (* Monfils withdrew due to a rib injury).
Djokovic is 29-10 at the season finale and is looking to win a record-equalling sixth crown.
Photo: AFP / Getty Images
