Dominic Thiem vs. Novak Djokovic – Prediction – ATP London (UK) 21.11.2020

H2H: Thiem v Djokovic – comparison.

Dominic Thiem scored two big wins in his opening two matches against Stefanos Tsitsipas and Rafael Nadal and qualified for the semifinals as the group winner only to face the former champion and world #1 Novak Djokovic. However, the Austrian has no reason to fear anyone at the moment. In addition to delivering two excellent performances earlier this week when it mattered the most, he also got an additional day of rest before this semifinal clash.

---

---

Despite winning the biggest title of his career in the US Open a few months ago, Dominic Thiem’s performance wasn’t entirely convincing in these four months, and he looked short of confidence even in the French Open, where he did well and finished as the runner-up in the previous two editions. The wins against Stefanos Tsitsipas and Rafael Nadal would probably have lifted the Austrian’s confidence levels. His level of performance against the Spaniard was particularly impressive, and performing at a similar level on Saturday would give him a great chance to advance further in London.

After exiting the group stages of the ATP Tour Finals for three consecutive seasons, Dominic Thiem posted his best result in this tournament last year by defeating Alexander Zverev in the semifinal before losing to Stefanos Tsitsipas in the championship match. Novak Djokovic overcame Alexander Zverev in a virtual quarterfinal encounter on Friday to confirm his semifinal berth in the ATP Tour Finals. With this win, the Serbian also avoided consecutive exit from the group stages of this tournament for the very first time in his career.

While Dominic Thiem is making only his second semifinal appearance in the year-end championships, Novak Djokovic is bidding for the record-tying sixth title in the ATP Tour Finals. Moreover, only three players have made more semifinal appearances (9), and only two have won more matches (38) than the Serbian in this tournament. Novak Djokovic heads into this clash with a terrific 7-1 record in the semifinal of the ATP Tour Finals with that sole defeat coming against Roger Federer back in 2010, when he won his first and third round-robin match to reach the semifinal.

The 33-year-old Serbian has had a few bitter moments (both on and off the court) over the last few months, and he would be hoping to make amends and finish the season on a positive note by claiming this big title. Novak Djokovic holds a dominant 8-4 lead in the H2H series, including winning their most recent meeting in the finals of the Australian Open earlier this year, 6-4 4-6 2-6 6-3 6-4. That said, the Austrian has been consistently closing the gap between him and the big-3 players over the last few years, and he even won the pair’s recent indoor hard court meeting here at the ATP Tour Finals last year. Neither of them has been playing at their best level since the restart, but the Austrian has performed relatively better in London so far this week, and expect him to have a slight edge in this evenly-poised semifinal clash.

Match Info.