LONDON, (Reuters) – Novak Djokovic produced a masterful display to outclass South Africa’s Kevin Anderson 6-2 6-2 yesterday to set up an ATP Finals title showdown with Alexander Zverev.
The world number one was immaculate from start to finish against the 32-year-old as he put himself within touching distance of a record-equalling sixth title at the year-ender.
He offered up a mere 14 unforced errors and not a single break point as he again proved too good for Anderson, who he beat to win Wimbledon this year.
“I think it was the best match I’ve played so far this week — it came at the right time,” Djokovic, who has been almost unstoppable in the second half of the year, said.
“Kevin has been playing great tennis this week. He lost his serve in the first game which was big because he relies so much on his serve. I tried to win as many points on his second serve as possible. It worked very well.
“I’m very happy to reach the final.”
Djokovic found his range immediately and the writing was on the wall for Anderson when he dropped serve in the opening game.
Anderson, the first South African to reach the semi-finals in the tournament’s 48-year history, simply had no answer to the relentless accuracy of Djokovic’s groundstrokes and had to save two break points in his next service game.
Breezing through his own service games — he is yet to be broken this week — Djokovic was able to exert maximum pressure on Anderson’s delivery and his opponent buckled to drop serve again as Djokovic pocketed a one-sided opener.
There was no let-up at the start of the second set for Anderson as he double-faulted to go 0-40 in his opening service game, Djokovic duly breaking again as the world number six dumped a forehand into the net.
Anderson received a code violation for an audible obscenity but it was hard to blame him for losing his cool as Djokovic continued to turn the screw.
Breaks were arriving with the frequency of London buses for the Serb and a rasping crosscourt forehand gave him another one as he romped into a 5-1 lead.
Anderson nicked one game back but it was a hopeless task and Djokovic put him out of his misery with a netcord on matchpoint to claim a 35th win in his last 37 matches — a run including the Wimbledon and U.S. Open titles to swell his collection of Grand Slam titles to 14.
Not bad for a man who began the year plagued with an elbow injury that needed surgery and who slumped to 22nd in the ATP rankings as recently as June.
Should he win against the 21-year-old Zverev, who he beat convincingly in the round-robin stage here, the 31-year-old will become the oldest player to claim the title.
Roger Federer, the previous oldest, was beaten 7-5 7-6(5) by Zverev in the day’s first semi-final.
The 21-year-old German upstart produced some dazzling tennis and thoroughly deserved a swashbuckling 7-5 7-6(5) win against the six-time champion to set up a Sunday showdown with world number one Novak Djokovic.
Zverev faces a monumental task against the relentless Djokovic, who he lost to 6-4 6-1 in the round-robin stage, but he will surely have a fairer audience than against Federer.
Rather then being able to celebrate becoming the first German since Boris Becker in 1996 to reach the final of a tournament often dubbed “the fifth slam”, he was shamefully booed and heckled during his post-match speech.
All because when serving at 3-4 in the second-set tiebreak and with Federer in charge of a rally Zverev shouted “hang on” and stopped the point after being distracted by a ball dropped by a ballboy at the opposite end of the court.
Federer looked bemused but after Brazilian umpire Carlos Bernardes checked with the young lad, who verified Zverev’s complaint, the point was replayed.
The Federer-loving crowd were in uproar and to make matters worse Zverev composed himself and slammed down a 137mph ace to level the breaker at 4-4.
Federer then made a hash of an attempted drop volley at 4-5 — cue more bedlam in the crowd — and two points later Zverev sealed victory when he belted away a backhand drive volley.
Rather than bask in the glory of beating the 20-time Grand Slam champion, the tousle-haired youngster ended up apologising for a situation not of his making.
“I want to apologise for the situation in the tiebreak,” Zverev said on court. “The ballboy dropped the ball and it’s in the rules that we have to replay the point.
“I apologised to Roger at the net and he said ‘it’s okay it’s in the rules.’”
Boos rung around the arena again, forcing on-court interviewer Annabel Croft to spring to his defence.
“I’m not sure why you are booing, he is telling the truth,” she told the crowd. “The ballboy moved across the court and disrupted play. I think you need to be a little bit more respectful, they are the rules.”
Federer, who will have to wait until next year for his 100th career title, was briefly rattled in his post-match news conference when asked if the incident had affected him.
“Of course it did. (The point) got replayed. I got aced,” the 37-year-old snapped.