Sports

ATP Finals: Novak Djokovic beats John Isner in group opener

Published

6 years ago

November 12, 2018

World number one Novak Djokovic kicked off his ATP Finals campaign with a commanding win over John Isner in their group opener on Monday.

The 31-year-old Serb was in devastating form as he easily dealt with the big serves of American Isner in a 6-4 6-3 victory.

Isner, World number 10, who is making his debut at the season-ending tournament, was broken in the fifth game of the first set and seventh of the second.

Djokovic then sealed the win on Isner’s serve with a crosscourt backhand.

Earlier in the day, Alexander Zverev beat Marin Cilic in straight sets in the other match in the Gustavo Kuerten group.

Meanwhile, world number three Roger Federer did slump to a surprise defeat by Kei Nishikori in his opening group match on Sunday.

And with world numbers 2 and four, Rafael Nadal and Juan del Potro withdrawn from the tournament, favourite Djokovic may be on a clear path to win a sixth title at the tournament.

“I had three breaks of serve of John which is sometimes ‘mission impossible’ but I managed to be at right place at the right time.

“I held serve well, I backed it up from the baseline, I played very solid and didn’t give him many opportunities,” said Djokovic after the game.

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