This one’s for you dad: Djokovic
World number one dedicates Tour Finals title to ailing father.
LONDON:
Novak Djokovic dedicated his ATP Tour Finals title to his sick father after the world number one produced one of his greatest performances to defeat Roger Federer 7-6 (8/6), 7-5 in the final on Monday.
Djokovic has been playing with a heavy heart over the last week at London’s O2 Arena as his father battles to recover from a blood disorder that struck suddenly a few weeks ago. Despite that, Djokovic managed to focus and stormed through the tournament with five consecutive victories to take the season-ending title for the second time.
But, after beating Federer to cap another fine year, the 25-year-old Serb was quick to pay tribute to his father and revealed he would take the trophy home to show his father this week.
“It was a fantastic year, where I’ve had to face a lot of difficulties off the court, especially coming into this tournament,” said Djokovic. “Having my father fighting for his health gave me extra strength that I wanted to play for him in a way. That’s one of the reasons I really gave it my all every match. This was a title for him.”
With his father hopefully on the mend, Djokovic can reflect on finishing the year as the sport’s pre-eminent force for the second successive campaign. The Serb won the Australian Open in January and reached the finals of the French and US Open before ending the season in style with an epic victory over Federer to shatter the Swiss star’s two-year reign as Tour Finals champion.
“It’s been two very successful years. This was my time, my moment, and I really needed to believe in my ability. Throughout the whole season I’ve had lots of success and had some disappointing losses at big events, in a couple major finals. But, all in all, it’s tremendous. It’s very satisfying for my team and myself to conclude this fantastic season with a World Tour Finals win.”
Published in The Express Tribune, November 14th, 2012.
Novak Djokovic dedicated his ATP Tour Finals title to his sick father after the world number one produced one of his greatest performances to defeat Roger Federer 7-6 (8/6), 7-5 in the final on Monday.
Djokovic has been playing with a heavy heart over the last week at London’s O2 Arena as his father battles to recover from a blood disorder that struck suddenly a few weeks ago. Despite that, Djokovic managed to focus and stormed through the tournament with five consecutive victories to take the season-ending title for the second time.
But, after beating Federer to cap another fine year, the 25-year-old Serb was quick to pay tribute to his father and revealed he would take the trophy home to show his father this week.
“It was a fantastic year, where I’ve had to face a lot of difficulties off the court, especially coming into this tournament,” said Djokovic. “Having my father fighting for his health gave me extra strength that I wanted to play for him in a way. That’s one of the reasons I really gave it my all every match. This was a title for him.”
With his father hopefully on the mend, Djokovic can reflect on finishing the year as the sport’s pre-eminent force for the second successive campaign. The Serb won the Australian Open in January and reached the finals of the French and US Open before ending the season in style with an epic victory over Federer to shatter the Swiss star’s two-year reign as Tour Finals champion.
“It’s been two very successful years. This was my time, my moment, and I really needed to believe in my ability. Throughout the whole season I’ve had lots of success and had some disappointing losses at big events, in a couple major finals. But, all in all, it’s tremendous. It’s very satisfying for my team and myself to conclude this fantastic season with a World Tour Finals win.”
Published in The Express Tribune, November 14th, 2012.