Missed a moment of the action on Thursday at the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals? Here’s your executive summary:
1) Raonic Rolls Into Semi-Finals
With fourth seed Milos Raonic and eighth seed Dominic Thiem battling each other for a place in the final four, it was the Canadian who came out on top in a tight 7-6(5), 6-3 victory. Raonic had never won a match at The O2 prior to this week. Read Match Report
Raonic's Serve +1 strategy of following up his big serves with a forehand proved to be particularly effective. With the Canadian's first serve averaging 125mph, he consistently kept the Austrian on his back foot and gave him few opportunities to control the match. Read Brain Game
2) Players Take On The Gong Challenge
Andy Murray and a slew of other players competing in the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals tried their luck at hitting a gong perched up in the stands of The O2. While some nailed it with ease, others need a bit of practise.
3) Djokovic Continues O2 Dominance
Second seed Novak Djokovic continued his bid for a fifth straight title in London with a dominant 6-1, 6-2 win over David Goffin, who replaced Gael Monfils due to the Frenchman pulling out with a rib injury. Djokovic finished with a perfect 3-0 record in Group Ivan Lendl and improved his FedEx ATP Head2Head record against Goffin to 5-0.
The Serbian advanced to the semi-finals of the season-ending championships for the fifth straight year and seventh time in the past 10 years. He has now won 21 of his past 22 matches at the O2. Read Match Report
His win also means his battle with Andy Murray to finish the year at the top of the Emirates ATP Rankings continues to heat up. Both Djokovic and Murray can leave London as World No. 1 by winning the title. Read Battle For Year-End No. 1 Explained
4) Quote Of The Day
“It's not easy to come out on the court and play your best tennis in this situation. Yesterday, I was feeling a little bit like I was on holiday, and all of a sudden somebody tells you that you have to play in front of 15,000 people against Novak.” – Goffin, revealing how far in advance he knew he’d have to play Djokovic.
5) Murray/Soares Complete Hat Trick
Second seeds Jamie Murray/Bruno Soares went 3-0 in Group Edberg/Jarryd, completing their clean sweep with a 6-3, 3-6, 10-6 win over sixth seeds Ivan Dodig/Marcelo Melo. Murray/Soares can still overtake Pierre-Hugues Herbert/Nicolas Mahut as the year-end No. 1 in the Emirates ATP Doubles Team Rankings, depending on the outcome of the Frenchmen’s final round-robin match on Friday. Read Match Report
Joining them in the semi-finals are third seeds Bob Bryan/Mike Bryan, who booked their spot with a 6-4, 6-4 win over eighth seeds Treat Huey/Max Mirnyi. They are pursuing their 113th career ATP World Tour title in London. Read Match Report