Novak Djokovic is back in the final of the season-ending ATP finals.
The top-ranked Serb beat Rafael Nadal 6-3, 6-3 on Saturday at the O2 Arena, putting him one win away from a fourth straight title at the tournament for the top eight players in the world.
Djokovic was strong when he had the ball, losing only seven points on his serve in the first set and three in the second. He was also good enough when he needed be on the receiving end, converting three of his five break points.
The win evened the head-to-record between the two players to 23-23, the first time Djokovic has managed to get level since the rivalry started in 2006. Their 46 meetings are the most between two players in the Open era.
This year it has been all Djokovic, who now has four straight victories over Nadal in nine straight sets. The run includes a quarterfinal victory at this year’s French Open, the clay-court major that Nadal has won a record nine times.
Djokovic, who won three Grand Slam titles this year and reached the final at the other, is close to setting his own record at the ATP finals. With another victory on Sunday he would become the first player to win the season-ending tournament four times in a row.
Bopanna-Mergea in final
Rohan Bopanna and his Romanian partner Florin Mergea on Saturday made it to the title round of the men’s doubles after registering a straight-set victory here.
The eighth seeded Indo-Romanian pair stunned third seeded combination of Croatian Ivan Dodig and Marcelo Melo of Brazil 6-4 6-2 in a semi-finals contest that lasted 59 minutes.
Bopanna and Mergea, who finished second in Ashe/Smith Group, dominated from very beginning of their tie on Saturday, winning 93 per cent of their first serve points. They also converted on all four break point chances.
They became the first eighth seeds to reach the final at the season finale since Mariusz Fyrstenberg and Marcin Matkowski in 2011.
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