By Chris Oddo / Tuesday, November 5, 2013

 

Novak Djokovic won for the second time in three days against Roger Federer, while Rafael Nadal exacted revenge on David Ferrer, in London on Tuesday.

Photo Source: AP

After a long day of tennis at the O2 Arena in London, the world's top two players improved their chances of reaching the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals in London dramatically, while Roger Federer and David Ferrer each fell behind the pack.

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Rafael Nadal, seeking to put the finishing touches on his sublime 2013, exacted revenge on his compatriot David Ferrer for last week's straight-set defeat in Paris, throttling the Spaniard who many liken to the Energizer Bunny, 6-3, 6-2 in 74 minutes. The victory puts Nadal just one win from clinching the ATP's year-end No. 1 ranking. If Nadal wins the title in London, he will tie his career-best mark of 11, which he achieved in 2005.

“I have great feelings every time that I have the chance to be playing in this stadium,” Nadal said. “Last year not playing here was a big miss for me.”

Ferrer may have had his batteries charged, but Nadal turned up the volume on his return game to put him at a disadvantage in the rallies for much of the affair. Nadal won 22 of 36 points against Ferrer's first serve and broke serve on six of seven opportunities to run away with the match after a shaky start that saw him behind a break in the early going.

With the slower-paced hard court seemingly favoring Nadal, the world No. 1 broke to love to take the first set, and then reeled off the first five games of the second. He would drop the next two games, but break Ferrer another time for good measure to close it his 21st win in 26 career battles with Ferrer.

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In the second match of the day in London, two familiar rivals engaged in their second three-set battle in three days, and once again it was Novak Djokovic defeating Roger Federer, 6-4, 6-7(2), 6-2.

Djokovic, who nudged his head-to-head record against Federer to within one match of .500 at 15-16, broke serve in the tenth game to steal the first set, but Federer rallied to force a decider after a wild, cavorting set ended in a tiebreaker which Federer took 7-2, much to the delight of the crowd.

Djokovic seemed to lose focus in that second set, but by the beginning of the third he redoubled his effort against his old rival Federer. Meanwhile, Federer lost his confidence and stumbled to the finish, dropping to 2-6 in deciders against the top 10 this season.

“Just too many unforced errors from Roger at too many inopportune times,” quipped Tennis Channel's Tracy Austin after the match, “and that's what we've seen all year.”

Djokovic would break to love in the first game of the third set, and when Federer had his chance to level in the very next game he faltered.

Federer, who converted on two of five break points on the evening (all in the second set) would not see another opportunity all night.

Down the stretch, Djokovic played his most consistent ball, and he patiently and methodically wore down Federer with his consistency and defense for the the second time in their last two tilts.

Djokovic, the defending champ at the World Tour Finals, has now won six of eight against the Swiss Maestro.

The Serb has now won 18 consecutive matches and improves his record against the ATP's top 10 in 2013 to 19-6.

Federer is playing for the first time in twelve career trips to the year-end championships with a ranking outside of the top four. He is currently No. 7 in the world, and his record against the top ten in 2013 drops to 2-9 with the loss.