By Sean Bradley
© rafaelnadal.com, Andy Kentla, Michael O'Kane


The number one tennis player in the world, Rafael Nadal, has defeated the third-seeded Novak Djokovic 7-5, 6-2 during Wednesday evening’s game at the ATP World Tour Finals in London.


Djokovic took a time out at 4-3 to adjust his contact lenses, which would continue to annoy him throughout the rest of the match. Though he tried adjusting his sight, everyone could see that he wasn’t playing the same, rubbing his eyes after each point and getting drops put in during time outs.


The game seemed very similar to the last time these two competitors faced off at this year’s US Open – Djokovic seeming promising toward the beginning but falling to the consistency of Nadal.

Nadal, so far 2 and 0 in the tournament, plays Tomas Berdych and Djokovic faces Andy Roddick, both matches occurring on Friday. Nadal has the advantage after beating him in this year’s Wimbledon finals.



We will have to wait until tomorrow to see who will qualify for the semifinals but we can guess. At this point there could be two 3 way ties in group A and B, but it is most likely that Roger Federer will qualify for the semifinals because he has won in strait sets for both of his matches. If there is a 3-way tie they go to total games - so the player who has allowed the fewest total sets then more total games through their 3 round-robin matches will advance. Basically, if Murray beats Ferrer he would finish 2-1 and if Soderling beat Federer he would also be 2-1 so then the total games allowed would be a tie breaker.


“I hope, if I make it to the semis, then I'm fresh and really ready to go. Because last year I played four matches and they all went the distance, that can wear on you a little bit at the end of the season. Maybe if not physically, mentally it's a little bit of a drag." Federer said that, "This year it doesn't seem to be the case. I'm excited to play Soderling. I have a great record against him. I hope I can play the same level like I did the last two.”

Click here for more scenarios on semifinal qualification.