The Swiss, who won their match 6-4 / 6-3, will accompany the Austrian Dominic Thiem Saturday in the semifinals of the tournament.
Switzerland's Roger Federer, world No. 3, overcame his nemesis Novak Djokovic (6-4, 6-3) on Thursday 14 November at the London Masters. He will accompany Austria's Dominic Thiem on Saturday in the semifinals, his 16e in this test. This defeat eliminates the Serb, 2e in the ATP standings and who will not be able to exceed this year Rafael Nadal, guaranteed to finish in first place.
Federer went back in time Tuesday in a crowded London arena and completely acquired, as very often. Forgotten the game missed and lost the first day against the Austrian Dominic Thiem, forgotten his 38 years, forgotten the unfavorable statistics: for the first time in four years almost to the day, Federer raised his arms after a match against "Djoko".
At the time, it was already in a pool match at the Masters London and he won 7-5, 6-2 before losing 6-3, 6-4, a few days later in the final. The start of a five-game losing streak against the Serb, the last of which was an unbelievable 5-set final at Wimbledon, concluded with a tie-break at 12-12 (3).
"I realized just before the match that I had not beaten him since my knee surgery, but I felt like I was going to have a chance. It was not like I had to exorcise a ghost or something. I had passed this a long time ago »said Federer.
"Best in all aspects"
Thursday, he did not let slip the opportunity to take the best of a Djokovic who seemed blunted by his lost fight Tuesday (6-7, 6-3, 7-6) in 2:46 against Thiem, the other qualified group "Björn Borg". "He was the best player in all aspects and he completely deserved his victory. He served very well, he was moving well, he was doing well, he did everything right. "said Djokovic admiringly.
It must be said that his statistics in the first set are dizzy: 86% of first balls, 8 aces, and only 3 points left on the way, Federer was unplayable on his service. Aggressive, precise, constantly taking the initiative, he adopted the same tactic that had smiled on Thiem against a Serb again too wait-and-see early in the game.
"From the beginning of the game, I had the dangerous impression that he was not going to play excellent tennis. But he's so good at finding a way to make you play bad and come out with the win of evenings like this … ", commented the Swiss.
After two engagements, Djokovic has also wanted to change tactics, but it was already too late, since he had lost his service to 1-1 on a blank game, including two double faults. If he was then more aggressive, the Swiss chained three games behind to conclude the round on ace (6-4).
Less successful then, Federer repelled the assaults of his rival early in the second set, saving a break point to 1-2. On the next game, he took the service of Djokovic not to let go, winning even the last two games without conceding a single point.
