Djokovic ends year on high with victory over Federer

Novak Djokovic wraps up the season with a 6-3, 6-4 victory over Roger Federer in the ATP World Tour Finals’ finale.

After the finest year of Novak Djokovic’s career and one of the greatest seasons in tennis history there was always an inevitability about how the ATP World Tour Finals would end at Wembley.

The truth is, Djokovic has been dominating the sport since his breakthrough year in 2011 and only a string of losses in Grand Slam finals prevented him from taking a full-blown stranglehold; that unwelcome habit has now, unequivocally, been eradicated, and, at the age of 28, it would appear a question of when, not if, he closes down Federer.

Federer saved a break point to begin the affair and would pounce at 6-5. He won three majors, stopped only in Paris by Stan Wawrinka who, for one glorious afternoon, was residing on another planet.

For the fourth consecutive year, appropriately, Novak Djokovic is your Barclays ATP World Tour Finals champion.

This was never going to be a repeat of their match on Tuesday when Federer pretty much caught Djokovic cold.

He won two of their three matches this year, including their last encounter in the US Open semi-finals, where Federer went on to lose to Djokovic.

The six-time tournament champion cruised through the week without dropping a match, and while Federer asserted his all-court game for stretches, he couldn’t consistently produce the key stroke to unsettle Djokovic’s lock-down baseline style. In 2011, which was also a spectacular year for Djokovic (70-6, 10 titles; 12 fewer wins with one fewer title than this year), he broke down physically and also ran out of gas late in the year.

The second stanza saw a similar story unfold as the Serb provided absolutely no opportunities for Federer to make any kind of inroad into the match, by putting forth a peerless display and romping home to 6-4 win and a fifth World Tour Finals title of his career.

“Overall, it’s been as close to perfection as it can get, the season,”Djokovic said”. The 35-year-old Bopanna, who made his second appearance at the year-ending tournament finals on Sunday after losing the 2012 final in a super tie-break while partnering compatriot Mahesh Bhupathi, missed a chance to be the first Indian to win the elite tournament.

“I returned more balls back than I did five days ago”, Djokovic told a press conference.

But Federer gave Djokovic the nod because: “He’s played some great tennis since we’ve played”. “But it’s obvious that it’s true if somebody can do it, it’s him, but it’s not easy to stay at that high level four or five years in a row”. I played a insane match against Roger in the semi-finals past year.

The Serbian said: “It’s been a great year with many highlights”.

“I was glad to keep the focus and concentration up after a long season”. I am just trying to cherish every moment, as a kid you dream of winning these big tournaments. After just an hour and 20 minutes, Djokovic had championship point and, with a whimper rather than a bang, Federer double faulted.

“Roland Garros is always one of the biggest challenges I have every year, but it’s not the only one”, he said. “But I do think the best thing that we can do is to live our normal lives, not change too much, because then the terrorists are the ones that are winning”.