Day 4 London: Djokovic, Cilic win

Day Four of the Nitto ATP Finals in London featured the second series of round robin matches from Group Guga Kuerten, and nothing surprising occurred.

Group Guga Kuerten

Novak Djokovic (1)

Sascha Zverev (3)

Marin Cilic (5)

John Isner (8)

Group Lleyton Hewitt 

Roger Federer (2)

Kevin Anderson (4)

Dominic Thiem (6)

Kei Nishikori (7)

Day Four round robin matches

Novak Djokovic (1) defeated Sascha Zverev (3)

The two winners from Day Two weren’t displaying that level of tennis in the opening set, but it was still a good enough contest, and serves were held without too much stress throughout the first eight games.

The pair proved about equal with points won on first serve, but Djokovic was superior when it came to second serve.

However, it was Zverev who achieved the first break points of the set in the ninth game - two of them.

Djokovic avoided the danger and proceeded to cash in on Zverev errors in the following game which created three set points.

A double fault on the second of these donated the set to the top seed who led 6-4.

Sadly for the German young gun, he offered little resistance in set two after sharing in the first two games.

Consistent play from Djokovic, shots hitting the mark with depth and precision, worried Zverev into an increased error count, and a dropped serve in the fourth game.  A second service break in the sixth game, sealed with a forehand pass, put Djokovic ahead 5-1, and he served for the match.

Novak eased to his second win of the tournament 6-4 6-1, and would reach the semi finals should Isner defeat Cilic, or Cilic defeat Isner (but in three sets).  Of course the fate of Djokovic was in own hands in any case, with a third round robin match to come.  He only would need to win one set in that match to reach the final four, if other clashes don’t already see him through.

Marin Cilic (5) defeated John Isner (8) 6-7(2) 6-3 6-4

In an outstanding opening set for the server, each player fended off break points - Isner one and Cilic three - before an inevitable tie break, where Isner was on song, winning seven points to two.

Cilic rebounded, and although Isner saved four more break points, he failed when 3-4, with a double fault granting Cilic the advantage.  The Croatian served out the set 6-3.  He had won 20 of 24 points on serve, and returned the big American serve efficiently, especially the second delivery, taking 70% of points when it was required.

Set three saw Cilic drop serve early, but Isner did so twice, and the fifth seed was otherwise rock solid from the line, winning all points on his first serve, and taking nine of 21 from Isner’s.

17 double faults for the match, a number at critical moments, crippled Isner, and assisted Marin Cilic to win his first match in the tournament 6-7(2) 6-3 6-4.

This was the first match, out of eight so far, to go the distance, and it also meant that Novak Djokovic qualified for the semi finals, irrespective of remaining results.