ATP Finals: Joe Salisbury into doubles semis, Novak Djokovic beats Cameron Norrie

Image source, Getty Images

Image caption, Rajeev Ram (left) and Joe Salisbury have won two Grand Slam titles together, but are bidding to reach the final of the ATP Finals for the first time

Britain's Joe Salisbury and his American partner Rajeev Ram sealed their place in the last four of the ATP Finals doubles as they continued their 100% winning record in Turin.

Second seeds Salisbury and Ram secured their semi-final spot by claiming the first set against Colombian pair Juan Sebastian Cabal and Robert Farah.

Cabal and Farah fought back but Salisbury and Ram won 7-5 2-6 11-9.

Later, Cameron Norrie lost 6-2 6-1 to top seed Novak Djokovic in the singles.

US Open champions Salisbury and Ram won all three of their group matches, setting up a meeting with Croat top seeds Nikola Metic and Mate Pavic in the semi-finals at 10:30 GMT on Saturday.

"We knew even though we won our first two matches, we weren't guaranteed to go through, so had to go out and win again," said Salisbury, who has been managing a back injury.

Salisbury, 29, is the only Briton to reach the semi-finals in the season-ending event.

Jamie Murray and his Brazilian partner Bruno Soares did not progress from the same group as Salisbury and Ram, while Norrie - a late alternate in the singles - could not have reached the last four even if he had beaten world number one Djokovic.

The British number one has enjoyed the best season of his career, climbing to 12th in the world rankings and winning the Indian Wells title, but was outclassed when he took on 20-time Grand Slam champion Djokovic for the first time.

The 34-year-old Serb, bidding for a record-equalling sixth ATP Finals title, had already qualified for Saturday's semi-finals and next faces German third seed Alexander Zverev at 20:00 GMT.

Norwegian debutant Casper Ruud qualified for the last four - where he will face defending champion Daniil Medvedev at 13:00 - after fighting back to beat Russia's Andrey Rublev 2-6 7-5 7-6 (7-5).

Meanwhile, Great Britain's group matches at the Davis Cup Finals will be played behind closed doors in Innsbruck after Austria announced a full national Covid-19 lockdown, starting on Monday.

Britain play in the Austrian city against France on 27 November and the Czech Republic on 28 November.

"We are very sorry for the tennis fans, who have been looking forward to this event for months now. We know the importance of fans for a competition like Davis Cup," said Enric Rojas of Kosmos Tennis, which jointly organises the Davis Cup Finals with the International Tennis Federation.

The Davis Cup Finals are being staged across three European cities with Turin and Madrid also hosting matches. The semi-finals and final will be held in the Spanish capital.