By Chris Oddo | Friday, November 14, 2014
Novak Djokovic became the seventh player to claim the ATP's year-end ranking three or more times on Friday. Next up? A clash with Kei Nishkori in the semifinals.
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Novak Djokovicran roughshod over Tomas Berdych in London to lock up the ATP’s year-end No. 1 ranking, 6-2, 6-2, on Friday in London.
More: Djokovic Becomes 7th in History to Claim Year-End No. 1 Three Times or More
The Serb improves his indoor winning streak to 30 matches with the victory, and qualifies for the semifinals in London as the top seed.
Djokovic, who has not lost since becoming a father last month, has sailed through the round-robin phase of the World Tour Finals in scorching form. He has broken his opponent’s serve in 15 of 22 games, and has set a new World Tour Finals record on Friday by completing his three round-robin matches while losing only nine games.
"I hoped that I could continue playing the way I played the first two matches because there was a lot of stake today,” Djokovic said. “If I would win the match, I would stay No. 1 so it's been a long year and a good season.”
Djokovic jumped out to 4-0 leads in both sets, and cruised to victory in 70 minutes to notch his 17th career win over the Czech in 19 matches. The Serb now owns a 15-0 match record against Berdych on hard courts.
“I think it just shows how great he is, how well he played during the whole season,” Berdych said of Djokovic after the match.
Djokovic will bid to become the first player to notch a three-peat at the ATP World Tour finals since 1987 over the weekend. More important, he’ll try to take the advantage in his lifetime series with Japan’s Kei Nishikori in Saturday’s semifinals. The pair have split four career tilts, including two this year.
Djokovic and Nishikori will square off in the first semifinal on Saturday, while Roger Federer will face the last qualifier from Group A in Saturday’s evening session.