London: Roger Federer lit up the O2 Arena with a dazzling 6-4 6-3 defeat of Novak Djokovic to hand the Serb an early ATP Finals exit and wreck his bid to end the year ranked number one on Thursday.
In the 49th meeting between the two great rivals, Federer snapped a five-match losing run against Djokovic and gained some consolation for his heartbreaking Wimbledon final defeat.
After both men had been beaten by Dominic Thiem earlier in the group, their eagerly-anticipated duel was a straight shoot-out to join the Austrian in the semi-finals.
Cheered on by the majority of the 17,000 fans in the arena, Federer produced an astonishing display of power, grace and precision and Djokovic simply had no answer.
Djokovic’s first defeat by Federer for four years means Rafael Nadal will end the year as world number one for the fifth time even if the Spaniard fails to reach the semi-finals.
Federer, Djokovic and Nadal have all achieved the feat five times. Pete Sampras managed it a record six times.
Nadal takes on Stefanos Tsitsipas in the other group on Friday and should he win and Alexander Zverev lose to Daniil Medvedev, it would set up a Nadal versus Federer semi-final.
Federer had played down talk of seeking revenge when asked about his impending clash with Djokovic this week, but his victory celebration showed exactly what it meant.
“I felt from the get-go I had good rhythm off the baseline and on the serve and that I felt like he was living dangerously if he was not going to play great tennis,” Federer, who at 38 continues to mock the ageing process, told reporters.
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