ATP Finals: Djokovic defeats Fritz to advance approaching Federer’s record

• Novak Djokovic prevailed over Taylor Fritz
• Fritz put on a valiant performance
• Djokovic broke to love in the fifth game of the match against him

In the ATP Finals semifinal matchup on Saturday, Novak Djokovic prevailed over Taylor Fritz 7-6(5), 7-6(6) to advance to the championship round and get one step closer to matching Roger Federer’s record of six trophies at the illustrious season’s end.

Fritz put on a valiant performance, coming back from a break down in the first set to take the second set 5-3. Djokovic struggled to consistently perform at his peak level, but he managed to prevail in both tie-breaks to complete a gruelling one-hour, 54-minute victory at the Pala Alpitour.

“I had to fight to survive. I didn’t feel very reactive today or very comfortable. I knew coming into today’s match from yesterday’s gruelling battle against [Daniil] Medvedev I knew it would take me some time to adjust and find the dynamic movement I need against Fritz, who is one of the best servers on the Tour,” said Djokovic.

When playing Fritz, the seventh-seeded Djokovic put on a competent but not outstanding effort, hitting only 21 winners to the eighth-seeded player’s 31. After a lung-busting three hours and eleven minutes in the round-robin match against Medvedev on Friday, he was thrilled to win in straight sets.

The key to Djokovic’s victory was how he attacked Fritz’s second serve. The American’s second delivery was won by the Serbian by 61 percent (14/23) and both of his match-against breakpoint opportunities.

When Djokovic faces Casper Ruud or Andrey Rublev in the championship match in Turin on Sunday, he will have the opportunity to equal the number of titles held by the legendary Swiss player Federer. Djokovic will receive 4,740,300 dollars if he wins the ATP Finals trophy and will go down in tennis history as the sport’s highest-paid player.

In Turin, the 35-year-old is vying for his sixth tour-level championship of the year. Rome, Wimbledon, Tel Aviv, and Astana champion. At the ATP Finals, where he has won the title in 2008 (in Shanghai), as well as in 2012, 2013, 2014, and 2015, Djokovic currently has a 45-17 career record (in London).

In order to exert some early pressure on Fritz, Djokovic broke to love in the fifth game of the match against him. However, the American quickly evened the score for 3-3 as the champion of Indian Wells, Eastbourne, and Tokyo started to settle into the contest.

A brilliant forehand winner on set point by Djokovic won the tie-break to the delight of his raucous supporters inside the Pala Alpitour, despite the fact that both players were still having trouble reaching their best.

In the second set, Fritz came out strong, breaking the Serbian in the first game and projecting more self-assurance in his first ATP Finals quarterfinal. At 5-4, 30/30, Fritz’s straightforward missed backhand proved to be crucial, despite the fact that the American appeared to be preoccupied by a call from the audience as he sent the ball.

Djokovic took advantage of it to retake the break before winning in a thrilling tie-break that featured several standout points.

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