After beating Taylor Fritz in straight sets in Turin, Novak Djokovic will have to outlast Casper Rudd for his first ATP Finals crown since 2015.
The Serb was made to work by the 25-year-old Californian, with both sets going to a tiebreak.
But Djokovic, 35, made it through both times to win 7-6 (7-5) 7-6 (8-6) and now faces Norway’s Rode – who played in Sunday’s final. defeated Andre Rublev.
“I had to fight to stay alive,” Djokovic said.
“I knew coming into today’s match from yesterday’s tough fight against [Daniel] Medvedev, I knew I needed to have the momentum I needed against Fritz, who is one of the best servers on tour. It will take me some time to adjust and find out.
“I’m very happy to overcome it because I don’t think it was one of my best days with my tennis, but I managed to stay there.”
Despite not winning the season-ending showpiece for seven years, five-time champion Djokovic is now just one match away from equaling Roger Federer’s record of six titles.
The road stands in his way after the 23-year-old Russian beat Rublev 6-2 6-4 in Saturday’s other semi-final.
Britain’s Salisbury Reached the Doubles Final.
Joe Salisbury will also be part of Sunday’s final day line-up as the Briton and his American partner Rajeev Ram beat top seeds Wesley Kohlhoff and Neil Skopski 7-6 (9-7) 6-4 in the first doubles semi-final. .
It means Salisbury and Rams remain unbeaten in Turin after winning all three matches in the round-robin stage.
However, fellow Brit Skopski and his Dutch partner Kohlhof – who also lost to Salisbury and Ram in the US Open final that year – will remain the world’s number one doubles pair this year after winning seven tour-level trophies in 2022.
Another Briton, Lloyd Glasspool, missed out on a chance to compete against his compatriot in Sunday’s doubles final as he and Finnish partner Harry Halivara lost in the other semi-final.
They lost 6-4 6-7 (4-7) 10-6 to the Croatian pair of Nikola Maktic and Matt Pavic, who will now face Salisbury and Ram.
