Novak Djokovic books his spot in knockouts of ATP Finals, two wins away from equaling Roger Federer's record

Novak Djokovic qualified for the knockouts of the 2022 ATP Finals in style, defeating Andrey Rublev in straight sets on Wednesday. Having already beaten Stefanos Tsitsipas in straight sets in his opener, the former World No. 1 continued his marauding run at the tournament with a flawless 6-4, 6-1 victory.

Rublev, coming into the contest after a morale-boosing win over Daniil Medvedev in his first match, stood no match for the 21-time Grand Slam champion on the night, at times looking very frustrated on court. As Djokovic racked up the winners on both ends of the court, the Russian cut a sorry figure, coming close to breaking his racquet on more than one occasion.

The first set started off as a close fight, with both players being tied at 4-4 before the Serb broke Rublev's final service game to take the set. The second set, however, saw the World No. 8 race to a 3-1 lead with an early break of serve, which he consolidated with a second service break to wrap up the match without breaking a sweat.

Djokovic and Rublev were evenly matched in terms of winners, with the former racking up 18 and the latter 19. In unforced errors, though, the 35-year-old made only 6, while Rublev ended up making 17. On serve, the Serb looked formidable as well, sending in 12 aces and not facing a single break point throughout the match.

He also won a whopping 94% (32/34) of his first serve points and 38% (3/8) of his second serve points. In contrast, Rublev served 10 aces (1 double fault) and saved only one of the four break points he faced on the night. The Russian won only 65% (24/37) of his first serve points and 37% (7/19) of his second serve points.

Overall, the seventh seed won 60 points in the match as compared to Rublev's 38. With Daniil Medvedev and Stefanos Tsitsipas set to face off in the second session match, the 21-time Grand Slam champion is assured of finishing in the top spot at the end of the day and is all but assured of qualifying in top spot from the group.

Having already won the tournament five times till date, the former World No. 1 is only two wins away from equaling Roger Federer's record of six titles at the year-end championships. The last time Djokovic won the competition was in 2015, when he beat Federer in the final.

Novak Djokovic improves to 2-1 in head-to-head against Andrey Rublev

Novak Djokovic at the Nitto ATP Finals

Andrey Rublev was the only player to have defeated Novak Djokovic this year in the Red Group in the 2022 ATP Finals, having beaten the Serb in the final of the Serbia Open. With his revenge win on Wednesday, however, the 21-time Grand Slam champion has improved his head-to-head against the Russian to 2-1.

Their first encounter on tour also came at the year-end championships last year, where the World No. 8 won in straight sets, once again losing only five games overall.