{"id":10693,"date":"2018-11-11T16:30:06","date_gmt":"2018-11-11T21:30:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/tennis\/?p=10693"},"modified":"2018-11-11T10:35:49","modified_gmt":"2018-11-11T15:35:49","slug":"nitto-atp-finals-preview-prediction-novak-djokovic-vs-john-isner","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/tennis\/2018\/11\/11\/nitto-atp-finals-preview-prediction-novak-djokovic-vs-john-isner\/","title":{"rendered":"Nitto ATP Finals Preview & Prediction: Novak Djokovic vs John Isner"},"content":{"rendered":"

The 2018 Comeback Player of the year and the newly crowned World No. 1 Novak Djokovic seeks a record tying 6th<\/sup> title in the English capital. On the opposite side is John Isner, who benefitted from Rafael Nadal\u2019s withdrawal to punch his ticket to the Nitto ATP Finals at the O2 Arena.<\/p>\n

Isner joins a select few Americans (Andy Roddick, Mardy Fish, and Jack Sock) to qualify since the season-ending finale moved to London in 2009. His opening match is arguably the toughest assignment in men\u2019s tennis right now. Only two men have beaten Djokovic after his Wimbledon triumph (Stefanos Tsitsipas in Toronto and Karen Khachanov in Paris Bercy).<\/p>\n

Isner will have the formidable task of producing a Khachanov-like display to have any chance of beating the Serb. The 33-year-old won his first Masters 1000 in Miami earlier this year and is looking for a rare upset over Djokovic. Their last meeting was three years ago in the indoor hard courts of Beijing when Djokovic dispatched the American in straight sets.<\/p>\n

Few could have fathomed that the Serbian superstar would be among the world\u2019s eight elite let alone return to world number 1. Following his loss to Marco Cecchinato at this year\u2019s French Open<\/a>, he rediscovered his “mojo” and has never looked back. He defied the odds to win Wimbledon<\/a>, completed \u00a0a career Masters 1000 sweep and was unplayable at the US Open<\/a> where he clinched his 3rd<\/sup> title at the Big Apple.<\/p>\n

The Serb\u2019s 21-match winning streak was brought to an end though when he ran into an inspired Russian rising star Karen Khachanov in Bercy who took out four top ten players en route to winning his first Masters 1000 title. As shocking as that result was, it was inevitable. Djokovic needed three sets to down Cilic in the quarters, a three-hour epic to defeat Federer in the semis and played Khachanoc who was quite simply unstoppable during the week.
\nEmbed from Getty Images<\/a>