Djokovic Is Aiming For Number One At Year End

Written by: Staff on 15th October 2012

Djokovic Is Aiming For Number One At Year End

epa03422437 Novak Djokovic of Serbia returns the ball to Juergen Melzer of Austria during their quarter final match at the China Open tennis tournament in Beijing, China, 05 October 2012. Djokovic won 6-1 and 6-2. EPA/HOW HWEE YOUNG |

By winning the Shanghai Rolex Masters and braving no fewer than five match points against Andy Murray in the final, Novak Djokovic took a major step towards overhauling Roger Federer to end 2012 as the World No.1 for the second year in succession.

And the Serb did not hide his ambition as he pocketed the $US669,450 winners’ cheque by saying: “The year ending no.1 ranking, it’s my biggest objective in this moment. It’s something I’m aiming for.

“Obviously this is going to be a huge confidence boost but it’s still not done. I still have to play well indoors at Paris-Bercy and the ATP World Tour Finals in London.”

However Djokovic refused to use the term ‘revenge’ in his three sets win over the opponent who beat him in the US Open final 34 days earlier and added: “When I faced those match points, I tried to focus on each individually. Andy was so close to the victory that I cannot say I was the better player.

“I won the match but as everyone could see, we were very close. It was a very even throughout and it’s difficult to judge who was better. We had so many rallies in nearly three and a half hours, which is a very long time for best‑of‑three sets match. It could have easily gone the other way.”

And Djokovic appears to see the main rivalry at the top of the men’s game being between him and Murray rather than Federer. “, I think Andy and I split three wins both this year,” said the Serb. “I won in Australia, he won in U.S. Open and he won in Olympic Games. We get to play these big matches and we put up a show for people. It’s exciting to be part of such an extraordinary rivalry with extraordinary matches.

“It’s great for the sport. I think we’re experiencing maybe the best era of all times.”

©Daily Tennis News Wire

Topics: Andy Murray, Novak Djokovic, Roger Federer, Sports, Tennis News