ROGER Federer will contest the ATP Finals semi-finals after downing world number two Novak Djokovic in straight sets, joining fifth seed Dominic Thiem in the final four of the tournament. The Swiss Master was at his vintage best to down Djokovic 6-4 6-3 to advance through to the semis, after both players had suffered losses to Thiem but knocked off Matteo Berrettini on the opening two rounds of the Borg Group.

The Swiss Master was simply sensational, winding back the clock during the tight match to break Djokovic twice in the second set, including in the final game to secure the straight sets win. Federer was clean (eight unforced errors) while effective (23 winners), strong on serve (78 per cent of points won) and almost broke even on Djokovic’s serve (47 per cent return points won). The normally reliable Djokovic was outsmarted by Federer, who made sure he was safe on serve, before applying plenty of pressure when the Serb was trying to hold. In doing so, he broke three times for the match, whilst saving a sole break point opportunity. The win meant he remains alive in the competition and every player is aware of the danger he possesses in crunch moments.

Meanwhile, Berrettini finally had something to celebrate with a big win over previously undefeated Thiem to end the tournament on a high note. While Thiem was never going to drop out of the semi-finals race, it was a shaky result for the Austrian, as the eighth seed Italian closed out a tiebreaker in the first set, before finishing off well in a 7-6 6-3 victory. Both players were solid throughout with Berrettini breaking twice and Thiem once, but it was the Italian’s 85 per cent first serve points won that was the difference, as Thiem had a solid 70 per cent. The eighth seed also made the most of his opportunities, hitting 30 winners in the clash, while producing 20 unforced errors. Thiem had similar unforced error numbers (19) but hit just 13 winners for the match.

The results mark the end of the campaign for Djokovic and Berrettini, while Thiem and Federer advance to face the top two of the Agassi Group to be decided overnight out of Stefanos Tsitsipas, Alexander Zverev and Rafael Nadal.

Day 5 Results – Borg Group:

[3] Roger Federer defeated [2] Novak Djokovic 6-4 6-3
[8] Matteo Berrettini defeated [5] Dominic Thiem 7-6 6-3