ATP World Tour Finals: Novak Djokovic claims historic World Tour Finals crown by beating Roger Federer in London
Djokovic defeated Federer 6-3 6-4
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Your support makes all the difference.After the finest year of Novak Djokovic’s career and one of the greatest seasons in tennis history there was always an inevitability about how the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals would end here. Roger Federer did his best to hold back the tide of Serbian brilliance, but in the end there was no stopping Djokovic, who won 6-3, 6-4 in just 80 minutes to round off an extraordinary year for the 28-year-old from Belgrade.
Since losing to Ivo Karlovic in the quarter-finals of the Qatar Open in the first week of the season, the world No 1 has reached the final of 15 tournaments in succession and won 11 of them. With 82 wins and just six defeats, he is the first player for seven years to win 80 or more matches in a season. His prize-money for the year stands at a record $18.8m (about £12.4m), which does not take into account the extra $2.26m he has earned from the year-end bonus pool.
Djokovic’s total of 16,585 ranking points is almost double that of Andy Murray, who as a result of Federer’s defeat is confirmed as the year-end world No 2. The Scot will surely be relieved to know that he will be seeded No 2 at the Australian Open in January, which means that he cannot meet Djokovic before the final.
The Serb is the first player ever to win these year-end championships four years in a row and at his current rate of success he looks sure to break plenty more records.
While Federer and Rafael Nadal lead Djokovic on the all-time list of Grand Slam champions, with 17 and 14 titles respectively to his 10, the world No 1 certainly has their measure at the moment. By beating Nadal in Saturday’s semi-final, Djokovic levelled his head-to-head record with the Spaniard at 23 wins apiece, while this victory finally brought him level with Federer at 22-22.
“Overall, this season has been as close to perfection as it can get,” Djokovic said. “I just feel blessed and overwhelmed with the emotion and the thrill of achieving such a great season. It inspires me even more to keep on going and, hopefully, playing at this level in the future.”
Asked to name the achievement of which he had been most proud this year, Djokovic said: “It’s been a great year with many highlights. If I can, I would pick obviously my Grand Slam wins, especially Wimbledon and the US Open.”
Three of Djokovic’s defeats this year were at the hands of Federer, who beat him in the finals in Dubai and Cincinnati and in the round-robin stage here last week, but on this occasion the 34-year-old Swiss was ground down by the Serb’s relentless excellence.
That was despite the support of the overwhelming majority of the crowd of 17,500, who roared their support for the seven-times Wimbledon champion. While nobody can deny Djokovic’s brilliance, he has never come close to matching the affection which crowds around the world have for Federer and Nadal.
There is nothing that Djokovic does not do supremely well on the court. His volleys and serve have improved significantly over the last two years, while his returns have become a major attacking weapon. Not content with simply getting the ball back in court, he has become a master at hitting thumping returns into the server’s feet on the baseline, putting him under immediate pressure.
It is the sheer consistency that overwhelms many opponents. Striking the ball with metronomic accuracy, Djokovic made only 14 unforced errors to Federer’s 31.
Federer saved one break point in the opening game but was broken in the third when he netted a forehand. Djokovic took the first set with another break of serve as Federer, under growing pressure from the quality of his opponent’s ball-striking, put a half-volley wide.
At 3-4 in the second set, to huge roars from the crowd, Federer held serve after trailing 0-40, but it was only delaying the inevitable. Two games later Federer went two match points down when he missed what should have been a routine volley. He saved the first with an unreturned serve but double-faulted on the second.
Djokovic said the difference between the final and his round-robin defeat to Federer had been the consistency of his hitting from the back of the court. “I served well when I needed to,” he added. “I got myself out of trouble. I returned more balls back than I did five days ago. I think that helped me to get into the rally. I always tried to make him play one extra shot.”
Jean-Julien Rojer and Horia Tecau, the Wimbledon champions, won the doubles title, beating Rohan Bopanna and Florin Mergea 6-4, 6-3 in the final. They were the first doubles team since 1986 to win the season-ending finale without losing a set and also secured the year-end world No 1 ranking.
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