Novak Djokovic reached the last four of the ATP Finals for the 10th time with an easy win over Andrey Rublev in Turin on Wednesday. The world number one beat fifth seed Rublev 6-3, 6-2 to equal Roger Federer’s record of six titles at the end of the season to secure his 50th match win of the year. Djokovic has topped the green group with consecutive straight sets victories. “I served well (and) it helped a lot. I wanted to get him out of his comfort zone by taking the time and mixing up the pace. It was a great performance overall,” Djokovic said.
Norway’s Casper Rudd plays British alternate Cameron Norrie later in the day.
Djokovic, 34, is looking to end a remarkable year that saw him miss out on completing the calendar Grand Slam with the defeat of Daniil Medvedev in the final of the US Open.
He will play Nori in his last round-robin match on Friday.
A rematch with number two Medvedev in the final in Italy is still a possibility, with the Russian reigning champions sitting at the top of the Red Group.
Djokovic is bidding for one title after defeating Medvedev in the final with success at the Paris Masters earlier this month.
The Serb has not won the ATP Finals since 2015, losing to Andy Murray and Alexander Zverev in the finals in 2016 and 2018 respectively, while also falling into an epic last-four clash with Dominic Thiem last year.
The 20-time Grand Slam champion was too strong for Rublev, however, serving 14 aces and hitting 19 winners before his formidable opponent.
He broke twice in each set of the match which lasted just 69 minutes.
“By winning the first set, I put extra pressure on him, and I probably started playing from the back of the court,” Djokovic said.
Earlier, Nori replaced Stefanos Tsitsipas in the draw after the Greek star was ruled out with an elbow injury.
The world number four declined to comment on the problem after an early loss to Rublev, but admitted on Wednesday that the injury that forced him to retire from his first match in Paris still haunts him. was interrupting.
“I have made the very difficult decision to retire from the 2021 final due to my elbow injury, which has been bothering me for a few weeks,” Tsitsipas said.
“It’s a very difficult decision on my part.”
Djokovic’s win gave Nori a chance to make it to the semi-finals despite playing fewer matches than his rivals.
Italian youngster Jannik Sinner is in a similar position in the second group, having replaced the injured Matteo Berrettini after seeing Hubert Herkaz on Tuesday.
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