SALON

Friday, Nov 9, 2012 7:45 PM UTC

Djokovic wins again at ATP finals, reaches semis

By

Topics: From the Wires,

LONDON (AP) — Novak Djokovic stayed perfect at the ATP finals, beating Tomas Berdych 6-2, 7-6 (6) Friday and qualifying for the semifinals of the season-ending event.

Djokovic lost in the second round of the Paris Masters last week, and said he felt down physically. But against Berdych, the top-ranked Serb ran all over the court, retrieving ball after ball and making his opponent work hard on nearly every point.

“If you are winning matches, I mean, obviously you feel better,” Djokovic said. “But still, I mean, the fact is that it being the last tournament of the year here in London for most of the players, it is a challenge finding that last drop of energy, physical, mental, to find their best game and go as far as they can.”

Djokovic is 3-0 in Group A and will play Sunday for a spot in Monday’s final. The other semifinalist from the group will be decided later Friday when Andy Murray takes on Jo-Wilfried Tsonga at the O2 Arena.

Murray, who won the U.S. Open and the OIympic gold medal, needs only to take a set against Tsonga to ensure his passage.

After reclaiming the No. 1 ranking at the beginning of the week, Djokovic had little trouble against Berdych. He broke his Czech opponent twice in the first set and once in the second, though he was broken right back on the third occasion to force the tiebreaker.

The ATP event is the last tournament of the season, featuring the top eight players in the world.

In Group B, six-time champion Roger Federer has already qualified for the semifinals and will face Juan Martin del Potro in his final group match on Saturday. David Ferrer is also in the group and can still qualify for the semifinals, but Janko Tipsarevic has been eliminated.

Berdych had his opportunities to win the second set, leading 5-1 and 6-3 in the tiebreaker, but he wasted all three of his set points as Djokovic won five straight to close out the match.

“I had some chances in the tiebreak,” said Berdych, who was eliminated from the tournament with a 1-2 record. “If I would be able to make it, try to push him for the third set, then maybe get another chance. But this would be just if. It didn’t happen.”

Berdych has only beaten Djokovic once in 12 tries, and that came two years ago on grass in the Wimbledon semifinals. On hard courts, Djokovic is now 10-0 against the hard-hitting Czech.

Djokovic also had his father’s health on his mind. On Friday, he said his father was getting better but didn’t give any detail as to what the problem is.

“Well, every win means a lot for my family and me,” Djokovic said. “But there are more important things in life, and that’s health. I guess that’s the priority now.”

Despite bowing out from the ATP finals, Berdych still has more tennis to play this season. He will lead the Czech Republic against Spain next week in the Davis Cup final.

“It’s another week, another event, another big thing. So I will try to get ready for that again,” Berdych said. “I hope that the best moment is still to come.”

More Chris Lehourites.

Next Article

Related Stories

More Related Stories

Featured Slide Shows

The week in 10 pics

close X
  • Share on Twitter
  • Share on Facebook
  • Thumbnails
  • Fullscreen
  • 1 of 11
  • Lisa Montgomery embraces her nephew Thursday after a tornado tore apart her home in Cleburne, Texas. The twister killed six people and destroyed entire swaths of the North Texas town.
    Credit: AP/LM Otero

  • Jack McMahon, the defense attorney for abortion doctor Kermit Gosnell, speaks outside the Criminal Justice Center in Philadelphia Tuesday. His client was convicted of killing three babies in his clinic, and will serve multiple life sentences.
    Credit: AP/Matt Rourke

  • A photo taken Monday captures Vice President Joe Biden's response to a Milwaukee second-grader's innovative proposal to end America's epidemic of gun violence. This guy!
    Credit: AP/Jenny Aicher

  • Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., flanked by a grouper-eyed Michele Bachmann, addresses the IRS' admission that it targeted Tea Party groups in advance of the 2012 election. In an op-ed for CNN Thursday, the Kentucky senator slammed the president for his faux outrage.
    Credit: AP/Molly Riley

  • Ousted IRS chief Steven Miller is sworn in on Capitol Hill Friday. Miller testified before the House Ways and Means Committee on the extra scrutiny the agency gave conservative groups applying for tax-exempt status.
    Credit: AP/J. Scott Applewhite

  • Attorney General Eric Holder pauses as he testifies on Capitol Hill before the House Judiciary Committee Wednesday. Holder is under fire, among other things, for the Justice Department's gathering of phone records at the Associated Press.
    Credit: AP/Carolyn Kaster

  • O.J. Simpson sits during an evidentiary hearing at Clark County District Court in Las Vegas, Nev., Thursday. Simpson, who is currently serving a nine-to-33-year sentence in state prison for armed robbery and kidnapping, is using a writ of habeas corpus to seek a new trial.
    Credit: AP/Las Vegas Review-Journal/Jeff Scheid

  • Major Tom to ground control: On Sunday astronaut Chris Hadfield recorded the first music video from space, a cover of David Bowie's "Space Oddity."
    Credit: AP/NASA/Chris Hadfield

  • When it rains it pours. President Barack Obama speaks during a news conference Thursday with Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, inexplicably inspiring an #umbrellagate Twitter meme.
    Credit: AP/Jacquelyn Martin

  • A smoke plume rises high above a road block at the intersection of County A and Ross Road east of Solon Springs, Wis., Tuesday. No injuries were reported, but the the wildfire caused evacuations across northwestern Wisconsin.
    Credit: AP/The Duluth News-Tribune/Clint Austin

  • Recent Slide Shows

  • Share on Twitter
  • Share on Facebook
  • Thumbnails
  • Fullscreen
  • 1 of 11

Related Videos

Comments

 0 Comments

Comment Preview

Your name will appear as username

You may use these HTML tags and attributes: <a href=""> <b> <em> <strong> <i> <blockquote>

follow salon

Most Read

Popular on Reddit

links from salon.com

vote
Journalists file suit against Manning's trial secrecy: Plaintiffs including Glenn Greenwald and Julian Assange demand press, public access to trial and documents
128 points129 points | comment
vote
Report: Nearly a quarter of Americans struggle to afford food
117 points118 points | 12 comments
vote
Kaitlyn Hunt refuses plea offer, will go to court over high school relationship - The 18-year-old rejected a deal that would have labeled her a sex offender and placed her under house arrest
90 points91 points | 77 comments
vote
Kaitlyn Hunt refuses plea offer, will go to court over high school relationship - The 18-year-old rejected a deal that would have labeled her a sex offender and placed her under house arrest
83 points84 points | 18 comments
vote
Ted Cruz against the world - How the Junior Senator is igniting the GOP civil war
69 points70 points | 16 comments

From Around the Web

Presented by Scribol
listener_new_rect The Listener: Chekhov's story mirrors Russia's own

Recommendations