Djokovic’s victory sets up final with Nadal

Defending champion Novak Djokovic set up a title showdown against Rafael Nadal at the ATP World Tour Finals with a 6-3, 6-3 defeat of Switzerland’s Stanislas Wawrinka on Sunday.

The Serb, who lost his No. 1 ranking to Nadal in October, was too solid for Wawrinka in the day’s second semifinal as he racked up his 14th consecutive victory over the 28-year-old.

Djokovic used all his defensive skills in the eighth game of the first set to convert a break point for a 5-3 lead and took the opener with an ace.

“We are both having a great season this year. This is probably the best possible final we have here in London. We’ll see what happens tomorrow,” Djokovic said.

“This is probably the most competitive tournament that we have after Grand Slams in our sport, and we both want to end this season in the best possible way and end it with a title.”

Wawrinka, who made the semifinals in his debut appearance at the season-ending showpiece, hung on grimly in the second set after dropping serve but Djokovic was clinical as he stretched his winning streak to 21 matches.

In the first semifinal, Nadal beat Wawrinka’s fellow Swiss, Roger Federer, 7-5, 6-3.

Australian Open champion Djokovic is unbeaten since losing the U.S. Open final to Nadal in September while Nadal, whose 10 titles this year include the French Open, hopes to cap an astonishing comeback after a seven-month injury layoff.