Novak Djokovic, who has rediscovered his drive and motivation since losing his world No. 1 ranking seven weeks ago, exacted revenge again today against the man who took it from him by beating Rafael Nadal convincingly, 6-3, 6-4, to take the ATP World Tour Finals title. This was Djokovic’s third title at the year-end tournament, and Nadal’s second loss in a final, having never taken this trophy.
The Serbian came out strong from the start, while the Spaniard started looking nervous, and was broken in his opening service game. Nadal got the break back, but was committing too many unforced errors on his trusty forehand side, and too many double-faults, trying for a bit too much to combat, futilely, in the end, the Djokovic A-game.
Djokovic, looking nimble and assured throughout, broke again early in the second set. Nadal kept his nerve, fending off championship points in each of the last two games. He held serve despite having been down, and got Djokovic to deuce at the last, but couldn’t hold off the inevitable any longer. Djokovic served an ace, and then a Nadal shot sailed wide to end the match.
The win evens their head-to-head this year to two wins a piece, and closes the gap on the overall to 22-17. It also sends a big salvo across the bow at Nadal for the season to come. Djokovic is gunning for him again.
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Fernando Verdasco and David Marrero beat Mike and Bob Bryan for the doubles title: 7-5, 6-7(3), 10-7. They were the surprise Spanish duo to pull it off, passing the higher-ranked Spanish team of Granollers/Lopez, who beat the Bryans at this tournament last year.
Photo credit: Marianne Bevis (Creative Commons License)
