Djokovic enters Rakuten Japan Open Tennis Championships final

October 5: World number one tennis player Novak Djokovic booked his spot in the final of the Rakuten Japan Open Tennis Championships. He defeated the 2017 Tokyo champion David Goffin 6-3, 6-4 in an hour and 29 minutes. Playing in Tokyo for the first time, Djokovic is aiming to win his 10th title on a tournament main draw debut. 10 other players who held the no.1 ATP rankings have already won the Tokyo finals. Currently, he is tied with Swiss player Roger Federer with 45 third-most tour-level wins in this season. The 2018 Tokyo champion Daniil Medvedev leads the ATP Tour with 54 victories. 

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Quick start 

Djokovic got off to a quick start against his seeded opponent. He never relinquished the lead and his first set lasted just 46 minutes. He used his famed defence to utilize the second set really well. He got better results from his first delivery, winning 34 out of 39 first-serve points, which is a whopping 87%. Djokovic continued his dream run by not dropping a single set through the matches so far. None of his 8 sets have gone to a tie-break.  

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Djokovic reacts 

He expressed satisfaction over his performance after the match. Conceding that the match was tough, he also acknowledged the challenge of facing Australian player John Millman in the final. Djokovic noted that Millman was a real fighter. 

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He said, "I’m very satisfied with the way I’ve been playing the whole week," Djokovic said. "It’s been a very positive week on the court, off the week as well. Hopefully, I’ll be able to crown it tomorrow with a trophy. Djokovic added, "I expected it (to be tough). Obviously, he was in good form and played really well against Chung yesterday in the quarters. The conditions are playing quick here. The surface doesn’t bounce that much, so you’ve got to be very low and quick on return as well. It definitely was not easy when both of us were serving well." On facing Millman, he opined, "He’s a very solid player. I saw today that he had a very good, solid win against Opelka, who was in form and is never easy to play against because he has such a big serve. And Millman is someone that is fighting hard, he’s a real fighter on the court. He never gives up. He has a positive attitude, he runs for every ball and he makes you play. So, it’s going to be again a baseline battle and I’m hoping I can serve as well as I did throughout the week because that’s something that is going to be needed." 

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