Don’t miss your first serve against Novak Djokovic. The Serbian started slow, but stormed home to defeat Dominic Thiem 6-7(10), 6-0, 6-2 in his opening-round match at the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals on Sunday afternoon. Djokovic was not in top gear, and relied heavily on winning the second serve battle to find separation from his up-and-coming opponent. When Thiem made a first serve during the three-set match, he won 67 per cent (43/64) of the points. Problems immediately developed when he didn’t. Thiem won 54 per cent of his second serve points in 2016 leading into the ATP Finals, making him 14th-best on the ATP World Tour in this category. But against Djokovic, that was chopped all the way...
Novak Djokovic needed three sets to defeat Dominic Thiem on Sunday at the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals, but doesn’t believe he could have done much to change that. The World No. 2 was full of praise for the Austrian after their match and said the rising star more than did himself justice in his debut at The O2. “Dominic definitely seemed very impressive considering it was his debut in the [Barclays ATP] World Tour Finals,” said Djokovic. “It didn't seem like he was overwhelmed by the stage or occasion. He came out firing and playing great tennis. Got to give him credit for that. He was obviously very pumped up to get to the court and give his best.”...