Novak Djokovic beats Milos Raonic at ATP World Tour Finals
Wednesday 16 November 2016 16:27, UK
Novak Djokovic qualified for the last four of the ATP World Tour Finals with a pulsating straight-sets win over Milos Raonic on Tuesday.
Having already beaten Dominic Thiem in Sunday's opener, the world No 2 was back to his best form at times in a 7-6 (8-6) 7-6 (7-5) triumph at London's O2 Arena.
Djokovic edged a fiercely contested first set in a tie-break and then clinched victory courtesy of another tie-break after both players had dropped serve twice in the second set.
Shot of the match
Raonic may be 6ft 5in, but Djokovic beat him with this inch-perfect lob.
Djokovic's reaction
"Winning the first set in a very close tie-breaker gave me some wings and I started playing well. I was two times a break up in the second, but Milos was hanging in there and one or two points separated us today. It could have gone either way."
Expert analysis
Greg Rusedski: "This is what Djokovic needed. We thought he was back to his best tennis when he was up a set, faltered a little bit, got it back with another break and then found a way to come through. For Raonic, it's going to be a sleepless night. These are painful matches to lose when you have the match in your hands on many occasions."
Peter Fleming: "Raonic had a set point in that second set but failed to convert it, and despite the W next to his name for Novak, there are still a few doubts and a few nerves rattling about in his head - erratic play that will leave him questioning where he is at. But for now he is 2-0 in the round robin and he is going to be around at the weekend. He can still hope his complete game returns."
The match
Raonic made the better start and created three early break points, but he failed to capitalise on each of them after being forced into errors by Djokovic's outstanding defensive work and willingness to engage in long rallies.
Although Raonic started raining down winners on his first serve, a combination of a weak second serve and more unforced errors allowed Djokovic to keep pace and the set almost inevitably went to a tie break.
It went largely with serve until Djokovic broke with a stunning lob and Raonic then double-faulted to hand the Serbian first blood.
Raonic twice looked to be a beaten man when he was broken in the first and fifth games of the second set, but on each occasion he broke back and the match once again went to a tie break.
The pair were level at 5-5, but a successful challenge handed Djokovic match point and he took it by forcing Raonic into his 27th unforced error of the tie, a figure that ultimately undermined his total of 42 winners.
Watch every day of the ATP World Tour Finals, from November 13-20, live on Sky Sports. Full schedule here.
