Novak Djokovic won the latest installment of his thrilling rivalry with Andy Murray as the world number one fought back to secure a dramatic 4-6, 6-3, 7-5 victory in the ATP Tour Finals at London’s O2 Arena yesterday.
World number three Murray now needs to win his final group match against Tsonga tomorrow to avoid an early exit after the US Open champion failed to take
advantage of a promising start.
Djokovic and Murray have been on-court rivals and off-court friends since the day they first faced off at an Under-12s tournament in the south of France.
Djokovic won their most recent meeting in the Shanghai final after saving five match points and his self-preservation instincts helped him survive another epic showdown lasting two hours and 34 minutes.
Murray kept Djokovic at bay with some fine serving and, while he could not convert his first set point on the Serb’s serve, he sealed the set at the second attempt in the next game.
It was Djokovic who delivered it, breaking for a 5-4 lead, then saving two break points and finally bringing to a close a decidedly heavyweight bout.
Indian duo win to keep bid alive
Meanwhile in the doubles draw, Mahesh Bhupathi and Rohan Bopanna defeated Robert Lindstedt and Horia Tecau 6-3, 5-7, 10/5 yesterday to keep alive their hopes of reaching the semi-finals.
They took the first set in emphatic fashion and, although Sweden’s Lindstedt and Romania’s Tecau hit back in the second, it was Bhupathi and Bopanna who dominated the super tie-break.
To have any chance of reaching the last four they will have to defeat second-seeds Max Mirnyi and Daniel Nestor in their last Group B match.
Aisam, Rojer off to a faltering start
Pakistan tennis ace Aisamul Haq Qureshi and Dutchman Jean-Julien Rojer lost the first of their Group A doubles matches on Tuesday.
The duo, who played against Indian Leander Paes and Czech Radek Sepanek, fought two tough sets before losing 6-4, 7-5.
Aisam and Rojer seemed to be outmatched by their opponents who won 44 of their 60 service points and 20 of their 58 return points in a match that lasted over 93 minutes.
Ferrer downs Del Potro to maintain winning run
In the singles encounter on Tuesday, Spain’s David Ferrer extending his winning run to 11 matches with a hard-fought 6-3, 3-6, 6-4 victory over Juan Martin del Potro.
Ferrer’s triumph in Paris came a week after he won the Valencia Open and he walked onto court against del Potro with a Tour-best 72 match wins, as well as seven ATP titles, to his name over the last year.
“I am very happy,” said Ferrer. “It was a top match. It was very difficult to play against Juan Martin, but I hope the people enjoyed our tennis.
Djokovic
“We really pushed each other up to the last ball. It could have gone either way. It was enjoyable to be part of. I’m not going to worry about the qualification calculations and just enjoy this victory.”
Ferrer
“It was a top match. I am very happy. I don’t know the secret of my good form. It has been the best season of my career. Maybe it is because I didn’t have a big injury.”
Published in The Express Tribune, November 8th, 2012.
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