|
 The Serbian underlined his complete dominance of men's tennis with
another immaculate display to become the first player in the
year-ending tournament's 46-year history to triumph four times in a
row.
Federer brought the tournament to a close in anti-climactic fashion
with a double-fault, although not as much as a year ago when he
pulled out of the final with back injury.
After a modest celebration, Djokovic walked back to his chair and
wrote "And now for vacation" in Serbian on a camera lens. How he
deserves one.
The 28-year-old has stomped through the season to leave his rivals
trailing in his wake -- securing the year-end world number one
ranking weeks before the London finale.
He won three of the year's four grand slams, beating the evergreen
Federer in the Wimbledon and U.S. Open finals to take his career
haul to 10, and would have celebrated the rarest of 'calendar year
slams' had it not been for an inspired Stanislas Wawrinka in the
French Open final.
Not only that but he won a record six Masters Series crowns and
reached 15 consecutive finals after losing to Ivo Karlovic in the
Doha quarter-finals at the start of the year.
He ended the year with an 82-6 win loss record -- half of those
defeats coming against Federer, including Tuesday's 7-5 6-2 group
stage defeat by the Swiss that snapped his 23-match winning streak
and three-year unbeaten run indoors.
With the stakes raised, though, the 34-year-old Federer made far too
many errors on Sunday while Djokovic's defenses proved largely
impenetrable, but for the odd flash of Swiss magic that had his
large red and white fan club chanting their approval.
STAND-OUT SEASON
"I returned more balls back than I did five days ago," Djokovic told
a news conference.
"Obviously sitting here with this trophy alongside me, I couldn't
ask for a better finish of the season.
"This season definitely stands out. I can't say I expected it, not
at all. But I always gave my best, and I'm always asking from myself
the most."
Federer's chances were fleeting.
[to top of second column] |
He had the first break point in the second game but fluffed a
forehand into the net.
In the next game a near-identical forehand found the net to give
Djokovic the break and from there the world number one never looked
back.
The clinical Djokovic teased Federer into a volley error on set
point in the ninth game to move ahead.
UNRELENTING DJOKOVIC
Federer, bidding for a record-extending seventh title at the
year-ender, was staring at the abyss when he trailed 3-4 0-40 in the
second set but escaped with five straight points.
Djokovic was unrelenting though and wore his opponent down with one
brutal rally two games later, sealing victory when a Federer second
serve sailed long.
He has now leveled his head-to-head record (22-22) with Federer for
the first time in his career, a day after pulling level with Rafael
Nadal (23-23).
Djokovic is seven short of Federer's record 17 grand slam titles
and, if he avoided injuries, it is far from inconceivable that he
could threaten that mark in the next few years.
However, world number three Federer warned that emulating 2015 will
be a tall order for the Serb.
"Margins are small at the very top," Federer said.
"That's why this year of Novak's is amazing. Rafa has been there.
I've been there. We both know how hard it is to back it up. It takes
a lot of effort.
"You've got to be physically in shape, no injuries whatsoever.
Mentally you have to be at your peak at all times. It's not as easy
as it seems sometimes."
(Editing by Justin Palmer and Ken Ferris)
[© 2015 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.]
Copyright 2015 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. |
