Djokovic Serves Up Serbia’s Semi-final Spot

Novak Djokovic has guided Serbia into Saturday’s Davis Cup semi-finals in Malaga, where he will face a third showdown with World No. 4 Italian Jannik Sinner in less than two weeks.

World No. 1 Djokovic defeated Cameron Norrie 6-4, 6-4  in one hour, 41 minutes to give Serbia an unassailable 2-0 lead after World No. 55 Miomir Kecmanovic had earlier held his nerve to edge Jack Draper 7-6(2), 7-6(6) in a match in which neither player was able to break serve.

Djokovic, who helped Serbia win its first Davis Cup title in 2010, continued the impressive serving he displayed in Turin, dropping just eight points on serve, while hitting 16 forehand winners, double Norrie’s tally. A winner of 98 tour-level titles, Djokovic took control of the match with an immediate break of serve in the first game of the second set.

Less than two weeks ago Djokovic lost a third-set tie-break to Sinner in group player in the Nitto ATP Finals in Turin, before he avenged that defeat with a commanding 6-3, 6-3 victory in the championship match last Sunday. The 40-time ATP Masters 1000 champion will take a 4-1 lead in their Lexus ATP Head2Head series into the semi-finals.

The 24-year-old Kecmanovic came into the tie on a four-match losing streak, having not won a match since reaching the Stockholm semi-finals in mid October. In contrast, Draper reached the final of the ATP 250 in Sofia (l. to Mannarino) in the final week of the regular season after winning the Bergamo Challenger the week prior.