Bercy Sunday – Djokovic Wins by Richard Evans

Written by: Staff on 3rd November 2013

BNP Paribas 2013 Masters Tennis Tournament

Bercy Sunday - Djokovic Wins by Richard Evans

epa03934742 Novak Djokovic of Serbia celebrates after beating David Ferrer of Spain in their final match at the BNP Paribas 2013 Masters tennis tournament in Paris, France, 02 November 2013. EPA/YOAN VALAT |

Is the work load too much? Novak Djokovic is about to find out. The Serb collected his 6th title of the year with a hard-earned 7-5, 7-5 victory over Spain’s David Ferrer in the BNP Paribas Masters here and immediately had to switch focus to his match against Roger Federer in the ATP Tour Finals in London on Tuesday.

A week later, Djokovic will find himself in the pressurized atmosphere of a Davis Cup final against the Czech Republic.

“It is what it is,” said Djokovic with a resigned smile. “I have to accept it. It is the schedule this year. Next year there is going to be a week between Paris and London. All the eight quarter finalists here are the eight who are playing London. I think we all showed how much we really respect this tournament and how much we really wanted to play well here.”

Then Djokovic revealed a little of what goes through a player’s mind as the matches pile up and the body starts complaining.

“Thinking in advance maybe you would say, ‘OK, it’s smarter to kind of calculate physically and mentally so as to get yourself ready for London because it’s so important. But I don’t think that way. For me, in tournaments like this, I need to play well and I need to go far. As I said, it’s a very delicate situation with scheduling this year. It’s the same for everybody but for me and David it’s going to be physically more demanding.”

It is now generally accepted that the ATP made a bad decision to do away with the rest week between Paris and London and they have corrected it. But, in the meantime, this excellently run and supported tournament, now under the direction of the former French star (and winner here) Guy Forget can breathe a sigh of relief at having come through with so little damage done to its reputation.

Forget knows he had the players to thank for that. “Their commitment has been great,” he told me. “And, as a result of the quarter final line up we are going to get great TV ratings and crowds as good as last year, which was a record for us.”

The final was worthy of the occasion with Ferrer, desperate to retain the title he won last year, getting himself in a position to win both sets when he served for them. But Djokovic, fighting through physical “issues” which he did not specify, kept coming at him and forced the errors which allowed him to break the Spanish serve twice at the end of both sets.

“Physically I didn’t feel as good today,” Djokovic admitted. “But in important points, in important moments I managed to overcome the challenge and play the right shots. It’s important for me to stay tough and overcome these physical issues. You need to push yourself to the limit, even over the limit, to discover how far you can really go.”

This relentless attitude towards self-improvement, assisted every inch of the way by his long-time coach Marion Vajda and the rest of his team, is one of the most significant aspects of the advance we have seen in Djokovic as a competitor over the past three or four years.

There was a time when he suffered from breathing problems and found it difficult to finish matches in extreme heat. But he found solutions, changed his diet; trained harder and became the magnificent champion he is today.

Djokovic will need to play three round robin matches in London against three of the best players in the world so there will be no respite. He feels he is playing as well as he has at any time this year and the confidence he will derive from that will drive him forwards.

It will be another demanding week at the 02, where capacity crowds of 17,500 will be expecting the best from the best. But, as they have shown here in Paris, these top tennis players have developed into some of the most dedicated athletes in the world and will not disappoint.

For Ferrer, an honest, no-holds barred fighter if ever there was one, there will be no respite either. He plays Rafael Nadal, who he beat here, first up in London.

“Tomorrow will be another tournament, another feeling, another sensation,” said Ferrer. “Of course I am tired after six tournaments in a row. But’s OK. It was a good match today and I am happy with my game.”

Not sure how they do it but it all makes for a great spectacle.

Topics: 10sballs, Atp, Bnp Paribas Masters, David Ferrer, Novak Dokovic, Rafael Nadal, Sports, Tennis, Tennis News

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KatValentini says:

November 3, 2013 at 12:15 pm

RT @10sBalls_com: Bercy Sunday – Djokovic Wins by Richard Evans: Is the work load too much? Novak Djokovic is about to f… http://t.co/7n1…