Djokovic credits fatherhood for impressive form

World number one bidding to win World Tour Finals title third time in a row

LONDON: Novak Djokovic believes the thrill of becoming a father has provided him with the perfect motivation to win yet another ATP World Tour Finals title and end the year as the world number one.

Djokovic became a father last month when his wife Jelena gave birth to a baby boy, who was named Stefan.

The Serb celebrated the birth by returning to the court just a few days later, embarking on a triumphant run to the Paris Masters title — a success that extended his run of consecutive victories in indoor tournaments to 27 matches and left him firmly on course to hold off Roger Federer in the race to secure top spot in the end of year world rankings.

After such an emphatic victory in France, the world number one arrives at London's O2 Arena for the Tour Finals, which get underway today, as strong favourite to become the first player to win the prestigious event three times in a row since Ivan Lendl in the 1980s.

"First tournament after becoming a father was Paris and I won it without dropping a set," said Djokovic, who opens his campaign against US Open champion Marin Cilic tomorrow. “It was a fantastic week and hopefully I can follow it up.”

Federer not worried about Davis Cup yet

Any distraction Federer feels as he bids for a record seventh title at the eight-man tournament will stem from an extra addition to his season.

Switzerland have made it to the Davis Cup final for the first time and a victory over France later this month would fill one of the few remaining gaps in Federer's CV. "The only time where I could potentially see that [the Davis Cup] slightly creeping into my mind would be if I make it to the semis or final here," said Federer, whose first match is against Canada's Milos Raonic today.

"Right now, I feel like it's still somewhat far away and during the round-robin matches, there's no way it's going to distract me."

With French Open champion Rafael Nadal recovering after surgery on his appendix, the remaining places in Djokovic's group are taken by Tomas Berdych, Stan Wawrinka, while Andy Murray and Kei Nishikori complete Federer's group.

The honour of playing the first match of the tournament falls to home favourite Murray, who faces Nishikori after embarking on a lengthy battle to secure enough ranking points to qualify.

 

Like Sports on Facebook, follow @ETribuneSports on Twitter to stay informed and join in the conversation.