The Courier & Advertiser (Perth and Perthshire Edition)
Djokovic seals ATP Finals semis place
Novak Djokovic d e f e a t e d Alexander Zverev yesterday to set up a semi-final clash against US Open champion Dominic Thiem at the Nitto ATP Finals.
For the second day in a row at London’s O2, one of the world’s top two tennis players found himself in a straight shoot- out for a place in the last four.
And Djokovic emulated Rafael Nadal, who beat Stefanos Ts i t s i p a s , by seeing off 2018 champion Zverev 6-3 7-6 (4).
The top seed’s victory means the world’s top four players make up the last four this weekend.
Djokovic was well beaten by the Russian in his second match, producing a performance that was well short of his best, but he was quickly on the front foot here, winning the first seven points.
A Zverev double fault handed him the break and that was all the advantage he needed to claim the first set.
Zverev – the only man to beat Djokovic, Nadal and Roger Fe d e r e r at the tournament – was below his best in his first two mat c h e s , although he rejected suggestions that the focus on serious assault allegations made by an exgirlfriend, which he strongly denies, was having an effect on him.
The German improved in the second set, beginning to put some real pressure on the Djokovic ser ve, although he was unable to force a break.
Djokovic still was not playing at the top of his game but, as he so often does, he found a way to win the points he needed and a fine tie- break saw him across the finish line.
It is the ninth time in 13 appearances at the tournament that he has made the knockout stages and he is two victories aw a y from a recordequalling sixth title.
Medvedev meanwhile warmed up for his semifinal against Nadal by sweeping to a 6-3 6-3 victory over Diego Schwartzman.
The Russian is the only undefeated player left in the tournament and, if he can maintain this form, he will surely have a great chance of a first career victory over Nadal.
Schwartzman ends his maiden appearance at the tournament with three losses to his name.
Bruno Soares believes he can win more grand slam titles with Jamie Murray after agreeing to rekindle their partnership.
Murray and Soares lifted the Australian Open and US Open trophies in 2016 and won eight further titles together before splitting last spring at the behest of the Scot.
Mu r r a y switched to playing with fellow Briton Neal Skupski but they have not had the success he would have hoped for, narrowly missing out on qualifying for the Nitto ATP Finals this year.
By contrast, Soares and Croatian Mate Pavic have been hugely successful, winning the US Open in September and climbing to the top of the team rankings.
It came as a surprise to Brazilian Soares last week when Pavic revealed he wanted to end the partnership to play with his fellow Croatian Nikola Mektic.
Soares said: “Mate came to me at the end of last week and decided that he wanted to split and he had different plans for 2021. Jamie found out the news, came to talk to me and find out my plans.
“To be honest I didn’t really h av e a ny plans because I was trying to focus on the tournament here.
“It seemed to me a great idea. I really like Jamie as a person, as a player. We had a lot of success together. I
think we’re both more experienced, more mature now. I’m really looking forward for next year.”
Murray and Soares held an awkward press conference together after their split was revealed during the French Open last year but the Brazilian insisted there were no hard feelings.
“It’s like a marriage,” he said.
“At the end sometimes, the routine, it just gets to you. Ja m i e needed a change.
“I appreciate him because he was always very honest about it and when he came to talk to me I completely understood.
“For me, first thing you’ve got to be happy on court, and if you’re not really feeling happy, you’ve got to do something to be happy, and he felt that the change was necessary. We were still playing great tennis.”