Come on, now. You didn't really expect Novak Djokovic to lose to Stan Wawrinka -- even after he went down an early break -- in Wednesday's round-robin match at the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals.
Djokovic held a 15-3 career head-to-head advantage -- but one of those three losses came in the quarterfinals of the Australian Open. Wawrinka went on to win his first major in Melbourne, and Djokovic, well, he's probably been plotting his revenge ever since.
Safe to say even Djokovic couldn't have imagined this.
The two-time defending champion in London toasted Wawrinka 6-3, 6-0 in 65 minutes and all but closed the door on Roger Federer's gallant attempt to wrest away the No. 1 ranking. If Marin Cilic had managed to win a set in his afternoon match against Tomas Berdych (won 6-3, 6-1 by Berdych), Djokovic would have clinched Wednesday.
At this point, it's merely a formality for the guy who won 12 of the last 13 games after falling into a 0-2 hole against Wawrinka.
"I definitely didn't expect but hoped that I can play this way and the match result can go this way for me," Djokovic said afterward. "Obviously Stan wasn't feeling his best today, made a lot of unforced errors, low percentage of first serves in.
"I didn't start so great. I thought he played very well the first two games. But, again, I wasn't frustrated. I kept my calm. After that, was a really amazing performance."
It was Wawrinka's worst ATP-level result in 13 years as a professional.
The 27-year-old Serb was physically and mentally flawless against Wawrinka and will clinch his third year-end No. 1 ranking with a Friday win over Berdych -- the unfortunate man he's already beaten 16 of 18 times.
If that happens, it won't matter what Federer (2-0) does Thursday (3 p.m. ET) in a delicious Group B match against Andy Murray (1-1). Thursday's matches -- the other singles tilt features the youngest players in the field, Kei Nishikori (1-1) and Milos Raonic (0-2) -- can be seen on ESPN3, starting at 9 a.m. ET.
Cilic, who won his first career major at the US Open, lost to Berdych in a similarly swift 75 minutes and has won all of six games in two matches.
Wawrinka, now 1-1, will play Cilic (0-2) on Friday; a win will likely deliver him the second Group A semifinals spot. Berdych (1-1) probably would have to beat Djokovic (2-0) to have a chance to advance.
In doubles, Bob and Mike Bryan defeated Jean-Julien Rojer and Horia Tecau 6-7 (4), 6-3, 10-6. After losing their first three sets in London, the No. 1-seeded team still has a chance to make the semifinals.
To be fair, the year-end tournament has been curiously devoid of drama thus far. Over the first four days and eight singles matches, we have yet to see anything beyond the minimum straight-sets result.
"Now, of course," said Djokovic, "since it's the tournament of the best eight players in the world, people, fans, the crowd expect to see a little bit more excitement and longer matches. So far we didn't have any three-setters. I think that's going to change as the tournament progresses."
Djokovic would finish as the ATP World Tour's year-end No. 1 player for the third time in four years, while the 33-year-old Federer was trying to do it for the sixth time, and the first since 2009.
How dominant is Djokovic right now?
He has won 29 consecutive indoor matches. And lost a total of five games in two matches -- and this is the year-end event featuring the top players.
Djokovic is bidding to become the first man to win this thing three times in a row since Ivan Lendl did it in 1987, the year Djokovic was born.
Federer, meanwhile, is well on his way into the semifinals. The only scenario by which he wouldn't qualify is if he loses to Murray in straight sets and Nishikori beats Raonic in straights.
A win by Nishikori doesn't guarantee him a semifinals berth, but it would mean Murray would need a victory over Federer to have any chance.
The last time Djokovic and Berdych played, in October in Beijing, it was 6-0, 6-2 for the reigning Wimbledon champion.
"I'm going to try to [win] maybe three, four games," Berdych said. "That would be better from the last time.
"You know, it's always a huge challenge to play No. 1 player in the world. The way he's playing, where are we playing, it's pretty much all set up for him and for his game. That's how it is."
For those of you scoring at home, Djokovic is now 7-0 since becoming a father -- he and wife Jelena welcomed Stefan into the world last month -- and he has won each of the 14 sets he's played, with only one tiebreaker. All of those have come against players ranked in the top 25.
"In terms of my approach to the practices and matches, not much has changed, to be honest," Djokovic said. "I do feel mentally even stronger since we became parents.
"It's a huge experience, a huge event in our lives, a blessing. Hopefully that new energy and inspiration can stay for a longer time with me on the court."