Novak Djokovic beats Roger Federer in straight sets to win his fourth straight ATP World Tour Finals title
World No.1 and top seed Novak Djokovic circled his year off in fine fashion, defeating the third seed Roger Federer 6-3 6-4 in the final of the ATP World Tour Finals at London’s O2 Arena on Sunday.
The opening set saw the Serb break the Swiss ace attain the break of serve as early as the third game to 2-1 up and then once again in the ninth game with the Swiss ace serving to stay in the set. But Djokovic, who failed to lead at any point during his loss in the round robin stage to Federer last week, didn't give his opponent any openings this time around and clinched the set 6-3.
The second stanza saw a similar story unfold as the Serb provided absolutely no opportunities for Federer to make any kind of inroad into the match, by putting forth a peerless display and romping home to 6-4 win and a fifth World Tour Finals title of his career. It is also his fourth consecutive World Tour Finals title.
Talking about the triumph, which capped off a sensational season for the Serbian, Djokovic said that this was the best year of his career so far and acknowledged the support of his team and his family.
“I'm obviously very proud to have these achievements with my team. It's been a long season, but the best of my life. Without their support and my family, I wouldn't be where I am. I'm just trying to cherish every moment at this level. As a kid growing up, you dream to be at tournaments like this and fighting for the biggest trophies in sport,” Djokovic said, as quoted by the ATP website.
He also praised the runner-up on the day, Federer, saying that he was a complete player and added that his returns on the day to his opponent’s serve was much better as compared to his loss last week to the 17 time Grand Slam champion.
"Against Roger it's very specific. You need to adjust to the tactics because of his game. He plays very quickly. He likes things to happen fast. He takes away the time from his opponent. He has so much variety in his game with slice, comes to the net, great serve, forehand, one of the best ever. He's very complete player. I know that he's always going to push you hard and try to protect the baseline, take away the time from you, which he was doing also today.
"I think what I managed to do better than what I've done in the last match we played in the group stage here was the fact that I was more solid from back of the court. I served well when I needed to. 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 try to make him play one extra shot,” he said.
Federer on the hand felt that he would’ve liked to have served better in the match and despite losing in straight sets, felt that it was a high-quality match.
"It would have been nice to serve a little bit better early on in the match, play better overall on his second serve, because he does allow you to play on his second serve. Maybe at times I went for too much. The moments where I should have gone safe, I didn't, and vice versa. Those are the two regrets I have,” he said.
If I played the match again, that is what I would try to do different. Other than that, I thought it was a good match. It was close. First six games were tough, to be down 4-2. I had my chances to at least be even. But I thought he played well. Still high-quality match, I thought,” he added.