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Djokovic stays alive for World Finals semifinal berth

Fri 27th, November 2009

London, England (Sports Network) - Novak Djokovic is still alive in his bid for a repeat title at the ATP World Finals after beating Rafael Nadal in the opening singles match on Friday.

Djokovic fought through a tough first set before pulling out a 7-6 (7-5), 6-3 victory over Nadal, who surprisingly failed to win a match in Group B play this week.

The Serbian improved to 2-1 in round-robin play and now needs Sweden's Robin Soderling to beat Nikolay Davydenko of Russia in Friday's second singles match from Group B to advance to the semifinals. Soderling has already qualified for the semifinals with a pair of victories, but a win for Davydenko would produce a three-way tie at 2-1, and the Russian would advance with the Swede because each would have a better sets record than Djokovic.

Nadal lost all three of his round-robin matches this week, and his setback on Friday dropped the Spanish superstar's record against fellow top-10 opponents to 1-9 since a loss to Roger Federer in the final of the Madrid Masters in May.

Federer and U.S. Open champ Juan Martin del Potro both advanced to the semifinals from Group A.

Saturday's matchups will be set after the Soderling/Davydenko match.