ATP World Tour Finals 2014 Results: Day 2 Scores, Highlights and Recap
The players seeded into Group A kicked off their 2014 ATP World Tour Finals campaign on Monday, taking to the court of the O2 Arena in London, England with the championship on their minds.
Stanislas Wawrinka may have limped into the tournament, stringing together poor results, but he showed his early-season form in the early session with a dominant win over Tomas Berdych, beating the Czech 6-1, 6-1.
Not to be outdone, Novak Djokovic put up the exact same scoreline against Marin Cilic, showing the rest of the field why pundits agree the Serb is primed to win his third straight title at the event.
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| Stan Wawrinka defeats Tomas Berdych | 6-1, 6-1 |
| Novak Djokovic defeats Marin Cilic | 6-1, 6-1 |
| Alexander Peya and Bruno Soares defeat Jean-Julien Rojer and Horia Tecau | 6-3, 3-6, 12-10 |
| Lukasz Kubot and Robert Lindstedt defeat Bob Bryan and Mike Bryan | 7-6, 6-3 |
Djokovic Cruises Past Cilic
The evening session was as one-sided as the earlier match between Wawrinka and Berdych, with Djokovic opening his tournament with an easy 6-1, 6-1 win over Cilic. ESPN Tennis shared the final score:
"A statement to the locker-room that he's ready to 3 peat. A clinic given by Novak Djokovic over Marin Cilic 6/1 6/1. Simply too good. -DC
— ESPNTennis (@ESPNTennis) November 10, 2014"
The defending champion was simply phenomenal from the baseline, bossing the Croat in each and every rally. Cilic's serve sputtered from the start, and he ended up winning just 33 percent of points on his second serve during the first set.
ESPN Tennis was in awe of how the Serb dominated the rallies with clean, powerful strokes:
"Novak's movement and ball control on the stretch is ridiculous. That is all. ND 4/1 (2 breaks) -DC
— ESPNTennis (@ESPNTennis) November 10, 2014"
Djokovic ran out to a quick lead and started getting even more aggressive in the return game, sensing Cilic simply couldn't follow. The first set took little under half an hour, and Colin Flemming told the BBC (h/t to Novak India Fans) he knows who his favourite is:
Cilic managed to pull back a single break in the second set but saw the level of his serve drop even more, winning just 11 percent of his second serves.
But as poor as Cilic's serve was, it was clear to everyone in attendance the one-sided score had more to do with Djokovic's exceptional play. Even coach Goran Ivanisevic had difficulties hiding his admiration, via Live Tennis:
"Here's what Cilic's coach Goran Ivanisevic thinks as Cilic is broken ... again. 6-1, 2-0 Djokovic. pic.twitter.com/itR8JSssfm
— Live Tennis (@livetennis) November 10, 2014"
The break turned out to be the only game Cilic won in the second set, as Djokovic emulated Wawrinka's score from earlier in the day, sending a clear message to his Group A rival.
The Swiss looked fantastic in his demolition of Berdych, but consistency has been an issue in 2014, and Wawrinka can't afford to make any mistakes against Djokovic, who is playing better than ever before.
Fans no doubt can't wait for these two titans to meet, with the top spot in Group A likely on the line.
Wawrinka Thrashes Berdych in Early Session
Wawrinka made quick work of Berdych on Monday, beating the Czech 6-1, 6-1 to start his 2014 World Tour Finals campaign on a high note. The ATP World Tour's official Twitter feed shared the final score:
The Swiss No. 3 seed has struggled for form in the latter part of the season but showed no signs of weakness whatsoever against Berdych, dominating the return game and making few mistakes with his serve.
Wawrinka opened with a strong game on serve and immediately broke Berdych, a sign of things to come. In a span of minutes, the Swiss was up 5-0, surrendering just five points in the process, before his opponent was able to keep his serve.
Bet365 couldn't help himself:
Using a strong deep backhand and good slices, the Australian Open winner kept Berdych from stepping into the court and using his powerful forehand to take over rallies.
Wawrinka won an incredible 92 percent of points on his first serve in the opening set, per Protennislive.com, but his play on Berdych's second serve was perhaps more impressive, grabbing an incredible nine out of 11 points.
The pattern continued in the second set. Berdych never had a chance to step into his strokes and started committing unforced errors by the handful, and Wawrinka took advantage of every single mistake.
ESPN Tennis was impressed with his focus, something that had been missing coming into the tournament:
"Wawrinka has been so up and down in his matches lately but has given no cheap points today. He's had total focus. 2nd break for Stan 4/1 -DC
— ESPNTennis (@ESPNTennis) November 10, 2014"
After less than an hour on the court of the O2 Arena, Group A's opening match was over, with the Swiss standing victorious.
Tweeting for ESPNTennis, Darren Cahill was taken by surprise with Wawrinka's performance:
"GSM Stan Wawrinka 6/1 6/1. We knew he liked the matchup with Berdych but I didn't see that coming. Outstanding performance. #stanimal -DC
— ESPNTennis (@ESPNTennis) November 10, 2014"
Tennis Panorama News saw the same thing:
The Swiss joked during his post-match press conference, telling reporters he's trying to impress compatriot Roger Federer, via Live Tennis' Hannah Wilks:
"I try to show him [Federer] that I’m going to be ready for the final
[...] I had, what, six wins against top 10 in the first three months of the year, then I never played them again because I lose early in the tournament, so it was a tough six months after.
I think I showed from the beginning of the year, already from last year, that my level is there. When I feel good on the court, I’m ready to beat everybody. It’s never easy, but you have to fight for it. Normally when you play the top-10 guys, you are in the quarters or semifinals of a tournament. So the confidence is there. I’m feeling great mentally. That’s maybe one of the reasons.
"
Wawrinka was written off by virtually every analyst following a disappointing run of results to close out the season, but if the form he showed against Berdych is any indication, he could be a threat to Djokovic's bid to defend his title.
He moved extremely well on Monday and played an aggressive brand of tennis without making too many mistakes, losing just five points on his serve in total.
Berdych shouldn't despair: According to the tournament's official live blog, the Czech is now 0-5 for his career in opening round-robin matches, but he has never lost a second rounder in the same format (4-0).
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