By Chris Oddo/ Thursday, November 7, 2013

 

Novak Djokovic notched his 19th consecutive win on Thursday in London, 6-3, 3-6, 6-3 over Juan Martin del Potro.

Photo Source: AP

His chances at the year-end No. 1 ranking have disappeared, but Novak Djokovic is still playing like a man with something to prove in London.

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Djokovic won for the 19th consecutive time on Thursday, taking down Juan Martin del Potro at the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals, 6-3, 3-6, 6-3, to book a spot in Sunday's semifinal round.

Djokovic improves his head-to-head record with the Argentine to 11-3 with the victory, but although the Serb has defeated Del Potro in seven of their last eight tilts, the battles have been intense, particularly in 2013.

Del Potro pushed Djokovic to five sets in the Wimbledon semifinal this year, and it will go down as one of the matches of the year. Just weeks ago in the pair played a wildly entertaining three-setter in Shanghai, eventually won by Djokovic in a tiebreaker.

On Thursday, Del Potro pushed Djokovic to a decider for a fourth consecutive time, but unlike at Indian Wells, when he notched a rare win over the Serb, Del Potro was unable to break through.

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But don't blame Del Potro. Djokovic played a near flawless third set on Thursday, employing his full arsenal of shots and drawing on his determination and focus during the few rough patches that he encountered. When he was tested early, facing two break points in the third game of the decider, Djokovic came through with flying colors.

Djokovic tossed in an ace down the T go get to 30-40 in that game, and on the next point he forced the issue, coming in behind a well-placed approach shot that Del Potro shoved wide of the tram lines. He would take the next two points to hold, and when he did, a visibly flustered Del Potro looked ready to crack his racquet on the hard court before thinking better of it.

That edgy, uneasy aura of Del Potro's never seemed to quite leave him in the set, and his impatience came back to burn him when he missed three forehands in the sixth game—all of them forced a little too early in the rally—to hand Djokovic the only break he would need.

With Djokovic playing efficient, clear-headed tennis, and winning big points with bold, precise shotmaking, there wasn't much that Del Potro could do in the final set. Djokovic would hold serve easily in his next two games to clinch the victory in one hour and fifty-four minutes.

The World No. 2 was 15 for 18 on the day, while saving four of five break points and cracking ten aces. It was a versatile, confident effort from Djokovic, and he will move on to face Richard Gasquet in his next match with a chance to make it to the semifinals without a defeat for a second straight year in London.

Del Potro, who played an energized second set, breaking Djokovic in the sixth game and winning 16 of 20 first-serve points while not facing a break point, will have to build on that type of effort when he faces Roger Federer on Saturday in a winner-take-all battle for the semifinals.

He and Federer have split two matches in the last two weeks with Del Potro winning the Basel final and Federer defeating Del Potro in the Paris quarterfinals.

Djokovic joins Rafael Nadal as one of the two players who have clinched semifinal berths already. Tomas Berdych, David Ferrer and Stan Wawrinka will battle for the final Group A spot during Friday's round-robin action, while Federer and Del Potro will meet Saturday.