ATP Finals shock as world no1 Novak Djokovic beaten by Daniil Medvedev

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Daniil Medvedev pulled off the shock of the ATP Finals to defeat Novak Djokovic and book a place in the semi-finals on Wednesday night.

In a battle of the returners, it was Medvedev rather than the world No1 who dominated the rallies as the Russian pulled off a 6-3, 6-3 victory. 

Djokovic started brightly enough but, as the rallies extended from the back of the court, it was the out-of-sorts Serbian who attempted to cut them short and was left breathless by the ferocity of Medvedev’s flat hitting. 

In effect, Djokovic was beaten at his own game and left looking perplexed by his own downfall, most notably in losing seven straight games spanning the first and second sets. 

A year ago, Medvedev couldn’t win a match in three attempts at the O2 Arena, this time he has two wins from two and looks in the driving seat to contend for the title come Sunday. 

After the win, he said: “I like to play Novak because he’s one of the greatest champions in the history of our sport. He was the first of the big three I played in my career so it’s always amazing memories of playing against him. I’m really happy beating him.” 

The 24-year-old had his first opportunity in game three with two break points but Djokovic held firm and, at the time, it looked like Medvedev would rue the missed chances. 

But as the attritional battle wore on, it was Medvedev that looked more like the world No1 in court whereas a rattled Djokovic looked to have no response. 

When Medvedev held to go 3-3 it started the span of seven straight games won, helped predominantly by his own aggressive tennis but also a string of Djokovic double faults – including three double faults in the final game of the first set. 

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The last time that Djokovic had lost the first set at the ATP Finals and gone on to win the match was four years ago, and there was little indication of that happening again as Medvedev took the opening game of set two in just 60 seconds. 

Djokovic then found himself staring down two break points in his opening service game, which was sealed as he sent the ball wide into the tramlines and dropped his head in despair. 

He eventually stemmed the tide of games conceded for 3-1 but it only briefly curtailed an increasingly inevitable result. 

Djokovic’s bid for a ninth semi-final spot in 13 ATP Finals appearances, though, remains on track. Should he win against Alexander Zverev in his final group game on Friday, he will qualify for the last four.   

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