Djokovic Overwhelms Wawrinka at ATP Finals

November 13, 2014 | By New York Tennis Magazine Staff
Photo credit: Adam Wolfthal

World number one Novak Djokovic put together one of his best performances of the season on Wednesday, rolling past Australian Open champion and third-seeded Stan Wawrinka 6-3, 6-0 in a second round-robin match at the ATP Finals in London.

It did not appear that way early, as Wawrinka notched an early break in the first game and then held serve to take a 2-0 first set lead. From there, though, the Swiss was unable to find his form or match the efficiency of Djokovic, who would rattle off 12 of the final 13 games to cruise to the straight-set victory.

“I thought he played very well the first two games. But I wasn’t frustrated,” said Djokovic, who has lost just five games all tournament long. “After that, it was a really amazing performance.”

Wawrinka looked incredibly sharp and focused early, using excellent baseline to baseline action to control the pace. After a couple of very nice backhand winners, the Swiss had himself a 2-0 lead.

He would completely unravel after that, whereas Djokovic continued to get better as each game went on. At one point, the Serb won 11 straight points on his way to five straight games. Wawrinka held in the eighth game, but that was all he was able to muster up the rest of the way.

In the second set, Wawrinka, who beat the Serb in the quarterfinals on his way to the Australian Open title in January, won just seven points in the entire frame.

“It was not my best match, that’s for sure,” said Wawrinka. “He’s playing really well. He [has] confidence. He’s not missing much. Today I think it was more about what I was doing. He put me in a position that I think a little bit too much. I was not really clear what I’m going to do, because he’s doing everything well and he’s returning well.”

Wawrinka is still alive for a semifinal berth, and will take on Marin Cilic in his final round-robin match. Djokovic will meet Czech Tomas Berdych in their final round-robin bout.

 


New York Tennis Magazine Staff
Centercourt
USTA NTC

January/February 2024 Digital Edition