Novak Djokovic reached the semifinals at the ATP Finals and eliminated Alexander Zverev on Friday by beating the German 6-3, 7-6 (4), ensuring the top four players in the world advanced at the season-ending event for the first time since 2004. The top-ranked Djokovic set up a match against Dominic Thiem on Saturday as he goes for a record-tying sixth title at the tournament, and a first since 2015. Zverev's groundstrokes and powerful serve posed more problems for Djokovic in the second set, and the German gained an early advantage in the tiebreaker by reaching a drop shot before hitting an unreturnable smash to lead 2-0. Djokovic then won five of the next six points and, on his first match point, found the baseline with a penetrating forehand which Zverev could only slice into the net on the stretch. “It was really a thrilling match,” Djokovic said, “so hopefully we can have another great match, this time with a different outcome.”Medvedev will be going for a third straight group victory when he plays already-eliminated Diego Schwartzman in the late match.

Source: Fox News November 20, 2020 16:41 UTC