TENNIS in DEPTH.

Novak Djokovic kept alive his chances of reaching the semi-finals of the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals at London’s O2 Arena with a 7-6 (7/5) 6-3 victory over Rafael Nadal.

The Serbian must now hope Nikolay Davydenko loses to Robin Soderling on Friday night while Nadal, who picked up a back injury in the second set, exits the tournament without having won a set.

This should have been a match to decide the winner of Group B but instead Nadal went into the contest already out of contention for a last-four place while Djokovic knew his fate was not in his own hands.

The Spaniard won all but four of their first 18 meetings but Djokovic has had the upper hand recently, beating Nadal convincingly in their last two matches, including in Paris earlier this month.

The Serb went on to win the title in Bercy – his fourth since the start of October – but that effort took its toll and he has looked weary and frustrated this week.

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