Murray Backs Djokovic To Return To His Best

Kei Nishikori is no longer just making up the numbers at the tennis world tour’s season-ending tournament, with a big result this year in London a realistic goal, he says.

Djokovic was warned for unsportsmanlike conduct after losing the first set but won 12 of the last 14 games. Djokovic broke in the first game and never looked back as he claimed a bagel inside 23 minutes.

It was a stark contrast to a closely fought first set as Djokovic levelled the match with a statement 6-0 win. “He was serving very well and it was definitely not easy”.

Djokovic has had to endure a hard season following his defeat at Wimbledon, claiming that he had to deal with some “off-court issues”, injuries and the rise of Murray to the top of the pile.

“The last couple of years were tricky, I had the Davis Cup final coming up afterwards last year so I maybe didn’t prepare as well, but this year I’m coming in well prepared and there’s no reason why I can’t do well this year”.

Tomorrow, it’ll be Djokovic starting the action at the O2 Arena in London by facing the young Austrian star Dominic Thiem.

Instead, Djokovic had in his corner former Spanish professional Pepe Imaz, who takes a spiritual approach to coaching. The Austrian finally won it on his seventh set point with a forehand victor, prompting Djokovic to smack a ball into the crowd.

Thiem eventually jumped out to a 6-3 advantage.

He roared at his box in triumph rather than rage when he held serve for a 3-1 lead and continued to apply pressure which an error-prone Thiem could not withstand.

It has been a spectacular rise, with Murray more than 8,000 points behind Djokovic in June, but Bjorkman is not surprised to see the Scot on top of the pile.

After that, it was just about all Djokovic. Thiem then earned his seventh set point at 10-all when Djokovic sprayed a forehand wide.

Thiem, the youngest player in the eight-man field, finally sealed the set by 12-10 after 76 minutes. “I started swinging more freely in the second set”.

Djokovic is now 4-0 lifetime against Thiem. From there, Djokovic just had to take care of his own serve to see him through.

The 12-time Grand Slam victor staved off a break point at 5-5, but Djokovic remained an unsettled figure, grumbling to a line judge; “Was it in or out?”

“It was a good match with a great first set”. I imagine shortly he’ll be back to playing his best. He has been the best player for the last six months without a doubt. “The qualities he possesses as a player, his determination to the sport, there’s a good chance that he can still play in this level for some time”.

Novak Djokovic: “I have plenty of motivation, [and] it starts from within”.

“I’ve been playing really well this year so I’ll try to keep it up”.

In the wake of it, Murray, who is going to play Croatian ace Marin Cilic on Monday, said, “I don’t want to spend time discussing what’s happened in the last few months”.