Novak Djokovic at 2018 ATP World Tour Finals: Preview and Prediction
The top seed and world number one Novak Djokovic comes to the 2018 ATP World Tour Finals, seeking a record-equaling sixth title in the prestigious year-end tournament.
The Serbian’s first title in the event came in 2008 in Shanghai when he defeated Nicolay Davydenko in straight sets. He had to wait for four more years before he could reach another final.
He reached his second final in the tournament in 2012 in London, where his opponent was two-time defending champion Roger Federer, in search of a seventh title there. But the Serbian managed to halt the Federer juggernaut by defeating him in straight sets and began his own extended winning streak at the event, from there on.
In 2013 final, he defeated Rafael Nadal in straight sets. He got a walkover from Federer in the 2014 final and then defeated him again in straight sets in 2015 for his fifth title in the tournament. He managed to reach his fifth straight final in 2016, but this time he lost to a rampaging Andy Murray in a match that also decided the year-end number one.
He comes to the 2018 ATP World Tour Finals on the back of a terrific second half of the season, where he has managed to win two grand slams and two Masters 1000 events, and reached the final of another Masters event. He comes to London as the world number one, and regardless of what happens in the tournament, he will end the year as world number 1.
But he would like to win the tournament for a record-equaling sixth time. He is in the Guga Kuerten group, where the other three players are world number 5 Alexander Zverev, world number 7 Marin Cilic, and world number 10 John Isner.
He has played only two matches with Zverev, and they have split those two. But it is the Serbian who won his only match against the young German this year at Shanghai, where he demolished him in a surprisingly one-sided encounter. He may not find his second match against him this year as easy as the previous one, but he should be able to get it past Zverev without much difficulty.
Against Cilic, Djokovic has a commanding 16-2 win-loss record. In fact, all of their first 14 matches went to Novak, after which the Croatian managed two wins of his own. But Djokovic has again started another streak by winning his last two matches.
Their most recent encounter was at Paris Masters 2018, where Cilic managed to take a set off Novak. Cilic is expected to give another tough fight in London, but the Serbian will eventually pass that test.
American John Isner is the fourth player in the group. Novak has an 8-2 win-loss record against him. He is on a 5-match winning streak against Isner, though they have not played against each other since the 2015 Beijing Open. He is expected to secure his sixth straight win against the American.
Djokovic is the favourite to top the group and play the second placed player from the Lleyton Hewitt group in the semi-final, which could be anyone from that group, not named Roger Federer. He will most likely meet Federer in the final and will try to defeat him for a fourth time in the final of the year-end tournament, to equal the Swiss Maestro’s record of six titles in the year-end event.
In their most recent encounter at the Paris Masters semi-final, it was Djokovic who edged Federer in three tight sets. But it was Federer who was able to break Djokovic’s serve for the only break of serve in the match. We may be in for another classic, but this time it may be the turn of Roger to get it past his nemesis.
Predictions:
Novak Djokovic will top Group Guga Kuerten.
Semi Final: Djokovic defeats Kevin Anderson in 3 sets.
Final: Djokovic loses to Federer in 3 sets.