Novak Djokovic v Kevin Anderson Preview – November 17th, 2018
Novak Djokovic was carrying some blistering from into the ATP World Tour finals with him this year, making him the firm favourite to go out and win the title for a record-equalling fifth time (Roger Federer). Given the way he has performed so far in London, there has been nothing to suggest that he won’t live up to his top billing as a favourite.
Djokovic is strong 1/8 odds-on to win his semi final* (betting odds taken on November 16th, 2018 at 10:31 pm).
Novak Djokovic v Kevin Anderson Odds*
Novak Djokovic 1/8
Kevin Anderson 5/1
* (betting odds taken on November 16th, 2018 at 10:31 pm)
Visit Bet365
Table of Contents
It has been fairly routine for Novak Djokovic so far at the 2018 ATP World Tour Finals. He won all three of his round-robin fixtures in straight sets and most of them were easy in terms of holding his serve. His closest duel in a set was needing a long tie-break to claim the first in his game against Marin Cilic. Djokovic is the only one to have dropped a single set in the round robin stage of the tournament.
Djokovic is a four-time winner of the ATP World Tour Finals and will pull level with Roger Federer if he can get his hands on it again. Djokovic is looking for his first ATP World Tour Finals title since 2015.
With Roger Federer always favourite to win his round robin group (which he did) it was going to be a close call between Kevin Anderson, Dominic Thiem and Kei Nishikori to see who would join him in the semi-final. It was set to be a tight race right down to the wire but wins over Thiem and Nishikori got Anderson across the line, losing against Federer. Anderson’s case was helped out by Thiem beating Nishikori in the final group match.
Anderson was fourth seed for the tournament (all of the top four seeds have made the semi’s) and this is the debut ATP World Tour appearance for Anderson.
Head to Head
Not too surprisingly the head to head is well in favour of Djokovic. From the eight previous matches that these two have played, Djokovic is 7-1 ahead. They have met twice this year with wins for Djokovic over the South African at Wimbledon and then more recently the ATP World Tour Masters 1000 Shanghai. That’s seven straight wins for Djokovic now over Anderson, having lost their first ever meeting back in 2008. Djokovic has won six of his seven victories over Anderson without dropping a set.
Predictions
The head to head says it all. The current form says it all. It would be a shocker if Djokovic didn’t win his way through this one. A straightforward Djokovic 2-0 option in set betting* (betting odds taken on November 16th, 2018 at 10:31 pm) should be all that it takes.
