Novak Djokovic vs. Kei Nishikori: 2016 ATP World Tour Finals Score, Reaction

Novak Djokovic set up a world No. 1 season-closing final against Andy Murray at the 2016 ATP World Tour Finals as he brushed Kei Nishikori aside in the last four on Saturday, thrashing the Japanese star 6-1, 6-1 in just 66 minutes.

The Serb was in blistering form at London's O2 Arena, allowing Nishikori just one hold of serve in the entire match.

Djokovic will face Murray in Sunday's final at the season-ending event, with the winner set to finish the year as the world No. 1.

Per BBC Sport's Piers Newbery, Djokovic will be looking to tie Roger Federer's record:

It took Nishikori 23 minutes to get a game on the board in Saturday's semi-final. 

A routine hold from Djokovic opened the proceedings before a couple of nervy groundstrokes and a double-fault from Nishikori saw the world No. 2 go up 2-0 with his first of many breaks. 

Another rapid hold made it 3-0, and Djokovic then broke Nishikori again for a 4-0 lead, with his sublime returning suggesting it could be a short evening of play.

Per tennis writer Carole Bouchard, the 12-time Grand Slam winner looked close to his best again after a recent dip in form:

However, Djokovic then bafflingly lost his serve from 40-15 ahead after a string of errors.

He quickly re-established the four-game lead, though, sealing his third break of the match with a stunning lob.

Serving for the set, Djokovic was pulled back to deuce from 40-0 ahead, and Nishikori looked to be finding his groove, via TennisTV:

However, there was to be no miraculous comeback in the opener, as Djokovic served out to move to one set away from the final.

And it was a similar story in the second set.

Djokovic broke twice for a 3-0 lead, as Nishikori was unable to deal with his opponent's returning, especially on his second serve.

Finally, down 4-0 in the second, the world No. 5 did hold his serve, but it merely delayed the inevitable.

Another impeccable hold moved Djokovic to within a game of the final, and a crushing forehand on match point sealed a victory of frightening efficiency.

Post-Match Reaction

Per Saj Chowdhury on BBC Sport, Djokovic said he executed his game plan almost to perfection against Nishikori and hyped up the significance of Sunday's final: "I pretty much executed everything I tactically planned to do. ... This has never happened in the history of tennis. I'm privileged to be part of the history. [Tomorrow's final] is one of the biggest matches we will ever play against each other."