Thiem in ATP World Tour semi finals after defeating Djokovic
In an incredible display of power hitting World number 5 Dominic Thiem showed that if you have enough fire power you can get past even against the best returners in the game. Thiem, 26 was coming on the back of a straight sets victory against 20 time Grand Slam champion Federer in his first round robin match. A victory against Djokovic means that this year’s French Open runner-up is through to his first ever semi-finals of the ATP World Tour Finals- a tournament featuring the 8 best players of the year. This was Thiem’s sixth win in eight matches against players in the top 5 bracket. He also became part of an elite group of players boasting a win over the Big Three viz, Djokovic, Nadal and Federer in the same calendar year.
“It was maybe the best match I’ve ever played. It was a real classic and epic match, which will happen from time to time at these big tournaments.” Thiem said after his victory over the Serb. Thiem also became one of the few players to beat Federer 3 or more times in the same year joining the likes of Djokovic, Murray, Nadal and Nalbandian.
Roger-Novak in a virtual quarterfinal
Defeat against Thiem means that Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic who combined have accounted for 11 ATP World Tour Finals amongst them find themselves in a virtual quarter-final, with the winner advancing to the semi-finals. The match will be all the more important for Djokovic who must win the match against Federer in order to keep his hopes alive of regaining the Year end World number 1 ranking against Rafael Nadal.
On the other side of the draw defending champion Alexander Zverev caused an upset by defeating World number 1 Rafael Nadal in the opening match in straight sets. Nadal next faces Stefanos Tsitsipas in the next round robin match.
