By Mike McIntyre
It should likely come as no surprise that Novak Djokovic and Alexander Zverev are the last two men standing at the season-ending Nitto ATP World Tour Finals in London. The resurgent World No. 1 from Serbia has been on fire since capturing Wimbledon back in July while the 21 year old German represents the future of the sport and already sits at an impressive No. 5 in the rankings.
Heading into the event, Djokovic was considered the heavy favorite and for good reason. In ten previous entries, he has walked-away with the title an impressive five times. This week at the O2 Arena, he has yet to drop a set in his four victories over John Isner (6-3, 6-4), Zverev (6-4, 6-1), Marin Cilic (7-6, 6-2) and Kevin Anderson in the semifinals on Saturday by a dominating scoreline of 6-2, 6-2.
Having a win already this week over Zverev also bodes well towards capturing his sixth title in London and Djokovic holds a 2-1 career head-to-head record against his Sunday opponent as well. They faced one another a short while ago in Shanghai with Djokovic untroubled during a quick 6-2, 6-1 semifinal win.
For Zverev to have a chance on Sunday he will have to produce a flawless performance from the service line and hope that his shots have the same impact they had in his 7-5, 7-6 semifinal victory over Roger Federer. Zverev was asked after the match who he would prefer to face in the final and his answer doesn't inspire much confidence when he replied, "I mean I played Novak a few days ago where it didn't go too well for me. I don't hope he'll lose but you know - there's a slight preference maybe in opponents. But it's the finals so I'm just happy to be here."
For someone who is viewed as one of the future heirs to the "Big Four" of Djokovic, Federer, Nadal and Murray, Alexander Zverev is going to have to elevate his game at some point to prove his critics that he indeed will take their place one day. A victory against Djokovic in London would certainly be a step in that direction.
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