Novak Djokovic says he is thrilled to have qualified for a history-making showdown against Andy Murray at the ATP World Tour Finals on Sunday night.
The world's top two players will square off at the O2 Arena with both the Tour Finals title and the end-of-year world number 1 ranking at stake in a winner-takes-all contest which will bring the tennis season to an amazing climax.
The pair had contrasting semis on Saturday, Murray winning an epic three-and-a-half-hour clash against Milos Raonic while Djokovic breezed past Kei Nishikori 6-1 6-1 in just over an hour.
And the Serb now has an opportunity to reclaim the top spot in the rankings, Murray having taken over after the Paris Masters a fortnight ago.
Fresh from defeating Nishikori, Djokovic said: "I must say that I'm very honoured to be part of history.
"I hear this is the first time in the history of the ATP that the two best players are deciding the rankings in the last match. That is something we should all be conscious of.
"This is one of the biggest matches we will ever play against each other
"I can't expect anything except to really get myself in the right state of mind and try to perform as well as I did tonight. That's going to be my only goal.
"As I said at the beginning of this tournament, concerning the rankings situation, I actually have things in my hands. I don't need to depend on anybody else.
"That's all I've been focusing on, to be honest, really building my game, getting myself to a higher quality level of tennis in each match.
"As I progress through the tournament, that's what's happening. Hopefully I'll be able to stick with it and perform as well as I did in my last couple of matches tomorrow."
As well as his epic tussle with Raonic, Murray beat Nishikori in a gruelling clash earlier in the week, but Djokovic is not expecting to face a weakened foe.
"Andy, you cannot take anything away from what he did in the last four, five months," said Djokovic.
"Yes, we haven't played against each other, but his level was phenomenal. He deserves to be in the situation where he is at the moment. He's No. 1 of the world, and deservedly so.
"He's had 20-plus matches won and he got himself out of trouble today because of that confidence. He really has been winning a lot.
"I'm sure, even though he has had a couple of very long matches in the last couple days, I doubt that he's going to feel tired. I know that he's very fit.
"He's going to do everything to recover and to be ready for tomorrow."
Watch the conclusion of the ATP World Tour Finals live on Sky Sports 3 HD from 5.45pm on Sunday, or follow live on skysports.com/tennis and the Sky Sports app.
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