Novak Djokovic sealed his first end of year ATP title by defeating previous champion Roger Federer in a scintillating performance which prevented the Swiss former world number one from claiming an unprecedented seventh- tour finals victory. The tournament perhaps saved its best tennis until the weekend, as the capacity crowd at London’s 02 Arena, (which has gained a two year extension on its rights to host the tournament earlier in the week) was treated to the most impressive standard during the semi-finals and final.
Novak Djokovic and Juan Martin Del Potro passed serenely through the round robin stage with Andy Murray and Roger Federer following them into the knockout phase, with few surprises thrown up during the week. However sparks started flying when Djokovic showed his resilience to recover from a set down to defeat the Argentine for the third straight time since defeat at Wimbledon during the Olympics.
Roger Federer continued his assault on tournament victory by shooting out Murray in a semi-final where the veteran world no.1 showed all his versatility and skill to outgun the hapless Murray. Monday’s final was on another level as rivals Djokovic and Federer tussled for the title with tennis of the highest order. Djokovic claimed the opening set with a stunning inside-out forehand winner. Throughout the second set the two adversaries traded stunning blows, with Djokovic’s scrambling and never say die spirit keeping his nose in front.
Likewise Federer was only going down in flames and a deft drop shot in the ninth game of the second set as he broke back. Nevertheless the inspired Serbian was not to be denied. A clutch down the line backhand winner to seal the match was definitely an appropriate touch on which the tennis season should end. Such a mesmerising final did justice to the tennis year we have witnessed. With the top four claiming a major each. For the British faithful 2012 has been the most memorable in years. A first men’s major champion since Fred Perry in 1936, coinciding with Murray’s Olympic gold medal on home soil alleviated decades of suffering from the fans of centre court.
Meanwhile Jonny Marray, a first round qualifier became the first Brit in 76 years to claim a Wimbledon doubles crown. The biggest concern for next year is the fitness of superstar Rafael Nadal who continues to recover from tendinitis and hasn’t played competitively since his shock second round defeat to Lukas Rosol at SW19. However if he returns to the fore, 2013 should offer the top four players a real challenge, as well as the likes of Del Potro, all of whom are evenly matched, battling for the highest rewards.
Author: David Grant