Djokovic ready for one last push at Tour Finals

Serb progresses to semis after 6-3, 3-6, 6-3 win over Del Potro.

LONDON: Novak Djokovic insists he is willing to defy his flagging energy levels in a bid to finish the campaign with more glory at the ATP World Tour Finals.

The defending champion booked his spot in the semi-finals at London’s O2 Arena by defeating Argentine fourth seed Juan Martin del Potro 6-3, 3-6, 6-3.

It was Djokovic’s 19th straight victory dating back to his US Open final defeat by Rafael Nadal. The Serbian arrived in England on Sunday night after winning his third straight title at the Paris Masters and fatigue has inevitably been his biggest opponent to date at the season-ending showpiece.

But Djokovic is showing once again that his appetite for victories and titles has no limit.

“I had a great start of the season and now a great ending of the season,” he said. “I just feel good at this particular part of the year. I know most of the players are exhausted physically, mentally, emotionally, after a long season.”

I’m playing the best tennis I think I played throughout the whole season. That’s something that I take as a positive for this moment and for next season. I’m definitely feeling confident.”

This match was a meeting between the two form players of the autumn, and they delivered another hard-fought encounter, although Djokovic admitted it was tough to subdue the big-hitting Del Potro.

“Just a little bit of a lack of concentration on his side, on my side, decided this match. He has one of the biggest serves in the sport. He has one of the most aggressive forehands. I just needed to stay tough.”

Aisam, Rojer bow out to Bryan brothers

Aisamul Haq Qureshi and his Dutch partner Jean-Julien Rojer crashed out of the ATP World Tour Finals as the duo lost their second league match to top seeds Mike Bryan and Bob Bryan on Thursday night.

Aisam and Rojer were seeded fifth in the year-ending tournament. The pair was aiming to qualifying for the semi-finals but lost two out of their three league matches in the tournament.

Earlier, Aisam and Rojer had opened the campaign against eighth-seeds Poland’s Marcin Matkowski and Mariusz Fyrstenberg 6-3, 7-6.

Aisam had said that he would try to win the following two matches, but the Bryan brothers were too good to be contained.

Aisam and Rojer fought hard to take the lead but lost the first set 7-6 (7-3) in a tie-break. They then staged a comeback to take the second set 6-1; however, their American opponents outplayed them again in the tie-break 14-12 to seal their win.

Aisam and Rojer will now face fourth seeds Ivan Dodig and Marcelo Melo in their last league match today.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 9^th, 2013.

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