DJOKOVIC AVENGES LOSS TO FEDERER, WINS WORLD TOUR FINALS FOR FOURTH YEAR IN A ROW

Written by: Staff on 22nd November 2015

DJOKOVIC AVENGES LOSS TO FEDERER, WINS WORLD TOUR FINALS FOR FOURTH YEAR IN A ROW

epa05037722 Serbia's Novak Djokovic lifts the ATP Tour Finals trophy following his two sets win over Switzerland's Roger Federer at the ATP Tour tennis finals tournament at the O2 Arena in London, Britain, 22 November 2015. EPA/ANDY RAIN |

Djokovic avenges loss to Federer, wins World Tour Finals for fourth year in a row

by Ricky Dimon

Novak Djokovic won the World Tour Finals for a fourth year in a row on Sunday evening, beating Roger Federer 6-3, 6-4 for the title. The Serb had to work much harder after getting a walkover from Federer in the 2014 final, but he still cruised in just one hour and 20 minutes.

In their previous matchup this week, a 7-5, 6-2 win for Federer during round-robin action, the 34-year-old had broken Djokovic four times in 10 return games. For a fleeting moment it looked like Federer would make similar headway against Djokovic’s serve in this one. The Swiss, who saved a break point in the opening game, got a look at a break point for a 2-0 advantage but could not convert.

Federer promptly dropped serve at 1-1 but earned another break chance in his second return game. Another error cast the opportunity aside, much to the chagrin of a pro-Federer O2 crowd. Djokovic added another break of his own for good measure to wrap up the set in convincing 6-3 style.

Switzerland’s Roger Federer returns to Serbia’s Novak Djokovic during the singles final match at the ATP Tour tennis finals tournament at the O2 Arena in London, Britain, 22 November 2015. EPA/ANDY RAIN

With momentum in hand, the top seed buckled down in his service games the rest of the way. He surrendered a mere six service points in the entire second set.

Drama in the showdown reached a high point when Federer found himself serving at 3-4, 0-40. The world No. 3 erased all three break points and held by reeling off five consecutive points with a flurry of big serves and groundstrokes.

But another routine hold for Djokovic quickly put the pressure right back on Federer and this time the 17-time major champion could not withstand it. Federer fought off one match point with a gutsy second serve at 15-40 only to double-fault and hand Djokovic the title.

Serbia’s Novak Djokovic returns to Switzerland’s Roger Federer during the singles final match at the ATP Tour tennis finals tournament at the O2 Arena in London, Britain, 22 November 2015. EPA/ANDY RAIN

Amazingly enough, in the span of two days Djokovic leveled his lifetime head-to-head series against both Federer and Rafael Nadal. Prior to tying his score with Federer at 22-22, the reigning Australian Open, Wimbledon, and U.S. Open champion drew even with Nadal at 23-23.

“It’s been an incredible season,” who unbelievably reached the final in every tournament he played except the opening one in Doha. “Obviously sitting here with this trophy alongside me, I couldn’t ask for a better finish of the season. The last four years I managed to win the World Tour Finals, where the best players in the world are playing.”

“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,” Federer explained. 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.

“But I thought he played well. High-quality match, I thought.”

Ricky contributes to 10sballs.com and also maintains his own tennis website, The Grandstand.

Topics: ATP Finals, Barclays World Tour Finals, London tennis, Novak Djokovic, Ricky Dimon, Roger Federer, Sports, Tennis News

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10sBalls_com says:

November 22, 2015 at 3:22 pm

#Djokovic Avenges Loss To #Federer, Wins #WorldTourFinals For Fourth Year In A Row
https://t.co/DZniUDqHFM #ATPFinals #DjokovicvsFederer
ElenaFoundation says:

November 23, 2015 at 10:50 am

What a fantastic @ATPWorldTour Final! @DjokerNole wins fourth title in a row! https://t.co/vuxpyKfOwI (news via @10sBalls_com )
ThomasDaniels10 says:

November 23, 2015 at 6:21 pm

RT @ElenaFoundation: What a fantastic @ATPWorldTour Final! @DjokerNole wins fourth title in a row! https://t.co/vuxpyKfOwI (news via @10sBa…