By Chris Oddo | Monday November 12, 2018
Novak Djokovic produced the perfect start to his 2018 ATP Finals campaign as he eased past bomb-serving John Isner behind brilliant returning and shrewd serving on Day 2 of the Nitto ATP Finals in London.
Djokovic stretched his run of consecutive sets won against Isner to nine with a commanding 6-4, 6-3 victory. The World No.1 was in total command from start to finish, as was exhibited by the fact that he earned break points in each of his first three return games against the American--he also won 60 percent of his second-serve return points and held Isner well below his season's average of 81 percent first-serve points won at 67 percent.
The return numbers were indeed spectactular, as was Djokovic's shotmaking: his crosscourt backhand return that whizzed past Isner for a clean winner, giving the Serb his first break of the evening and a 3-2 lead in the opening set was jaw-dropping.
It was that type of day for the Serb. He barely put a foot wrong and notched his 50th win of 2018 while improving to 9-2 lifetime against Isner and 32-11 at the ATP Finals.
“The match was great,” the five-time champion told Annabel Croft in an on-court interview after the victory. “Obviously I managed to have three breaks of serve of John which is sometimes mission impossible, but I just managed to be at the right place at the right time.”
Djokovic broke serve three times on nine opportunities in total, and dropped just six points on his own serve to complete the masterclass in 73 minutes. When the players shook hands at the net Isner could only offer a wry smile as if to say 'Wow, I just got it handed to me.'
“I held my serve really well,” Djokovic explained, adding: “I thought I backed it up very nicely from the baseline—from the back of the court I played very solid, I didn’t give him too many opportunities, yeah, just a great match overall.”
Djokovic dropped just four service points in the opener and held to love for the third time to close out the first set 6-4.
In the second set he needed time to take control but notched a critical break for 4-3 after Isner committed a forehand error on Djokovic’s second break point of the game.
In the next game Isner was able to stop Djokovic’s run of 21 consecutive points won on serve, but he offered very little resistance after that.
The World No.1 broke again in the ninth game to clinch his victory and send the engaged London crowd heading for the exits a little earlier than they’d expected.