ATP Finals 2018 Day 6: Zverev grabs last semi-final spot, Djokovic goes undefeated
After the conclusion of Group Lleyton Hewitt where we saw Roger Federer and Kevin Anderson join Novak Djokovic in the semi-final lineup, it was time to find out who would grab the remaining semi-final spot from Group Guga Kuerten on the final day of the round-robin matches at the 2018 Nitto ATP Finals.
First up, it was Alexander Zverev who took on the big-serving John Isner. It was the German who delivered his best performance of the week to down the American in straight sets, 7-6 (5), 6-3 to reach his first semi-final at the season-ending finale.
Both players battle for points during tense affair
Both players started the match playing brilliantly on serve, banging loads of un-returned deliveries and hitting powerful, penetrating groundstrokes on the ones that came back.
Then at 3-3, Isner got into some trouble after a double fault and a fine backhand pass from Zverev, but held on with two aces and a beautiful backhand volley.
At 6-5, it was now Zverev who found himself in trouble as the American got hold of his serves and crushed a forehand winner to earn himself a set point. But the German No. 1 quickly took the opportunity away with two big serves and held on to force a tiebreak.
The breaker had more of those crushing serves by both men as none of them really had any realistic chance to get a mini-break in the first six points. Then at 4-4, Isner missed a routine forehand to hand Zverev the crucial mini-break, but came up with a reply straightaway with a ripper of a return off the forehand to even score.
The American made another brilliant return in the very next point, but Zverev came up with a majestic half volley pass off the forehand to earn himself a set point, where Isner blinked once again and netted a forehand to hand the opener to the German.
With the first set now lost, it meant the American was now out of the semi-final race, placing Zverev firmly in the driver's seat to fill the fourth and final spot. The second set was similar as both were seemingly untouchable on serve during the early exchanges.
But at 3-4, Zverev made some brilliant returns right down the middle of the American's feet to secure a pivotal break. He then made no mistakes when serving out for the match, clinching the semi-final spot to set up a meeting with Roger Federer for a spot in Sunday's final.
With Zverev's victory, the semi-final lineup was now complete. Djokovic would take on Anderson in Saturday's evening session after the aforementioned clash during the afternoon.
Novak train rolls on
Meanwhile during the tournament's final round-robin match, Novak Djokovic defeated Marin Cilic 7-6 (7), 6-2 to go undefeated in the group stage.
Both players started the match playing extremely well on serve. Then at 3-3, Djokovic got hold of the Cilic serve, engineering a break point in the process. However, the Croat delivered one of those typical unreturnable serves and managed to hold on for 4-3.
Besides that, both were very dominant and pretty soon, a tiebreak was needed to separate the two. The breaker was more of the same as most rallies ended after the very first shot and both even saved a couple of set points on service winners.
But at 7-7, Djokovic finally got hold of a return and got into the rally to get the crucial mini break with the help of a Cilic unforced error. He then took his second set point with a similar rally to close out the opener 7-6 (7).
We all know how dominant Cilic can be on his serve, but on this occasion the Serb was even more ruthless - winning 27 consecutive points on his serve in the opener.
The second set was a different story, as Cilic faced three break points in the very first game, but with the help of long backhand return from Djokovic and two huge serves, he held on to get on the scoreboard first.
Then again at 2-2, Djokovic played a brilliant return game to generate three more break point opportunities and on this occasion, he grabbed the third chance to get the all important break.
After that, the match ran away very quickly from Cilic's grasp. Novak earned another break a game later, closing the match with minimal trouble to remain undefeated going into tomorrow's semi-final clash against Anderson.
Novak Djokovic is now the only player of the remaining four who is not only yet to drop a set, he's yet to even lose his serve so far this week.