Novak Djokovic crushed David Goffin 6-1, 6-2 at the ATP Tour Finals on Thursday as the World No. 2 kept his foot on the gas in the race to finish the year atop the world rankings.
Djokovic had already qualified for the semifinals as group winner, but the Serb was keen to keep the momentum going in his bid to overhaul World No. 1 Andy Murray and he took just 69 minutes to demolish Goffin at London's O2 Arena.
WATCH: >Djokovic determined to regain top spot
The 29-year-old has been in a prolonged slump since winning the French Open for the first time in June, sparking rumours about his private life and questions about his recent involvement with a 'spiritual guru' as he lost the top ranking to Murray.
But the decline is all relative as Djokovic has now won 21 of his last 22 matches at the Tour Finals, keeping him on course to win the tournament for a fifth successive year and record-equalling sixth time in total.
It is also the fourth time in the last five years that Djokovic has won all three of his group matches at the Tour Finals.
Djokovic is now 70 points ahead of Murray in the ATP's 'as it stands' rankings, although he already knew winning the tournament would give him the year-end pole position whatever happened against Goffin.
Raonic joins Djokovic in last four
Milos Raonic booked his place in the ATP World Tour Finals last four with a straight-sets victory over Dominic Thiem in Group Ivan Lendl. The Canadian progresses to the semifinals at the end-of-season tournament for the first time thanks to a 7-6 (7-5), 6-3 win.
Victories over Gael Monfils and now Thiem see Raonic go into the last four full of confidence, joining Novak Djokovic in qualifying from the Lendl group.
WATCH: >Raonic chases No.3 spot
Both Raonic and Thiem could have progressed to the latter stages with victory in Thursday's encounter, but the latter was made to rue costly errors at vital times as his debut came to an early end.
The opening set saw Raonic's forehand falter, however he was able to stay in the contest and forced a tie-break. He was then abandoned by his normally reliable serve before finding his rhythm to move ahead, a piercing forehand getting the set point and a huge ace completing the job.
Thiem had been competitive with a string of crisp groundstrokes but a backhand error at the start of the second gave Raonic the first break of the match - an advantage he never looked like letting slip.
He wasted a further two chances in the third game to bolster his advantage but it mattered little, Raonic easing into the last four with his second break as a Thiem backhand found the net.
Victory takes Raonic into third in the projected ATP rankings but Stan Wawrinka and Kei Nishikori will hope to challenge him for that when they resume on Friday in Group John McEnroe.
Murray faces Stan Wawrinka in his last group match on Friday knowing a victory would guarantee he qualifies as group winner, thus avoiding a clash with Djokovic before the final.
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