London: Novak Djokovic said his ailing father's struggle with serious illness had inspired him to beat Roger Federer in a thrilling climax to the ATP World Tour Finals on Monday. Srdjan Djokovic was absent from his normal courtside position as his son beat Federer 7-6 7-5 at the O2 Arena and cemented his place as the world's best player.
He was not out of mind, however, and Djokovic was quick to pay tribute to his father after his gritty victory over world number two Federer, winner of the title for the past two years. "It's been a very long year, a very long two years, but very successful two years," five-times grand slam champion Djokovic, who ended a second consecutive season as world number one having won a career best 75 matches, told reporters.
"I didn't really know how I would follow up after my incredible 2011, but I believed that I have to use the time where I'm playing the best tennis of my life. "It was a fantastic year, where I've had to face a lot of difficulties off the court as well. Especially coming into this tournament, having my father fighting his own fight for health gave me extra strength that I wanted to play for him in a way.
"That's one of the reasons I really gave it all every match, especially tonight. This was a title for him." Djokovic's father has been seriously ill with a respiratory problem and Djokovic has spent
12:35 PM, Nov 13, 2012
New Delhi: Rohan Bopanna has confirmed his partnership with American Rajeev Ram for the next ATP season, the move comes in the wake of Mahesh Bhupathi-Bopanna combine deciding to part ways. While Bhupathi will be partnering Canadian Daniel Nestor, Bopanna will be seen pairing up with long-time friend Rajeev on the ATP circuit next year. The duo has a combined experience of 17 years on the professional circuit. "Rohan and...
10:26 AM, Nov 13, 2012
London: With the top defensive players increasingly getting the better of him often in recent years, Roger Federer would like to speed up the game of tennis. Or at least the courts the matches are played on. Federer lost to Novak Djokovic in the final of the season-ending ATP finals on Monday, and then praised the top-ranked Serb's ability to retrieve so many shots and keep the ball in play....
10:00 AM, Nov 13, 2012
London: Even when Roger Federer had the lead, Novak Djokovic had the answers. The top-ranked Serb recovered from early breaks in both sets and beat Federer 7-6 (8-6), 7-5 on Monday in the championship match at the ATP finals. Federer broke Djokovic's serve to take a quick 2-0 lead in the first set, and then again to open to the second, but both times the world's No. 1 player rebounded...
08:41 AM, Nov 13, 2012
London: Marcel Granollers and Marc Lopez won the doubles title at the ATP finals by beating Mahesh Bhupathi and Rohan Bopanna of India 7-5, 3-6, 10-3 on Monday. The sixth-seeded Spaniards won their third title of the season. They also won in Rome and Gstaad, and will have a chance to add the Davis Cup title next weekend against the Czech Republic in Prague. The top-seeded Bryan brothers, Bob and...
01:54 AM, Nov 13, 2012
London: Roger Federer's unique appeal showed no sign of waning on Sunday as he gate-crashed what was supposed to be Andy Murray's party in the semi-finals of the ATP World Tour Finals. Up against Britain's first male grand slam champion for 76 years and an Olympic gold medalist for good measure, the 17,000 crowd at the O2 Arena should by rights have been roaring for Murray as he attempted to...
10:10 AM, Nov 12, 2012
London: For a set not even the granite defence of Novak Djokovic could withstand the irresistible brute force of Juan Martin del Potro on Sunday but the Serb then rode out the storm to win the opening semi-final at the ATP World Tour Finals. The world number one soaked up some wrist-bending blows from the inspired Argentine before turning the match in his favour to romp home to a 4-6,...
11:25 PM, Nov 11, 2012
London: Mahesh Bhupathi and Rohan Bopanna saved a match point to breeze into the title clash of the ATP World Tour finale after defeating Leander Paes and Radek Stepanek via Super tie-breaker, here on Sunday. The fifth seeded Indian pair halted the winning run of the Indo-Czech combination with a 4-6, 6-1, 12-10 win in the semi-finals and in the process avenged the defeat of the Shanghai Masters final last...
07:47 PM, Nov 11, 2012
London: Juan Martin del Potro beat Roger Federer 7-6, 4-6, 6-3 to reach the semi-finals of the ATP World Tour Finals on Saturday. The Argentine guaranteed himself one of the top two places in Group B with a 2-1 record, the same as defending champion Federer who had already sealed a semi-final spot after winning his opening two round-robin matches at the season-ending tournament. The final day of action in...
11:41 PM, Nov 10, 2012
London: Leander Paes and Radek Stepanek will go into the semi-finals of the ATP World Tour Finale as the unbeaten team as they pipped the top seeds Bob Bryan and Mike Bryan in their last Group A match, here on Saturday. Third seeds Paes and Stepanek held their nerves to beat three-time champions 6-4 6-7(6) 10-7 in one hour and 45 minutes. Now Bryans would be praying that seventh seeds...
08:58 PM, Nov 10, 2012
London: World number one Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray reached the last four at the ATP World Tour Finals on Friday after slicing through the various permutations of their round-robin group with matching wins at the O2 Arena. A day that began with all four Group A players in contention for the top two spots ended without the need for calculators as Djokovic beat Czech Tomas Berdych 6-2 7-6 and...
08:30 AM, Nov 10, 2012
London: India's Mahesh Bhupathi and Rohan Bopanna knocked out defending champions Max Mirnyi and Daniel Nestor to qualify for the semi-finals of the ATP World Tour Finale, here on Friday. The fifth seeded Indian pair fought tooth and nail for a 7-6 (5) 6-7(5) 10-5 win against the second seeded Belarussian-Canadian pair in their final Group B match that lasted almost two hours. Leander Paes and his Czech partner Radek...
09:06 PM, Nov 09, 2012
London: World No. 7 Juan Martin del Potro defeated ninth-ranked Janko Tipsarevic to end the Serb's chances of reaching the semi-finals of the $8.85 million ATP World Tour Finals here. Del Potro swept away his opponent in the first set and denied him any break points as he secured a 6-0, 6-4 win on Thursday in the round robin stage of the season-ending tournament. The Argentinian now must beat reigning...
04:15 PM, Nov 09, 2012
London: On an indoor court, Roger Federer can win even when he's not playing his best. He proved that again on Thursday at the ATP finals, beating David Ferrer 6-4, 7-6 (5) and advancing to the semifinals with a match to spare despite struggling with his serve and scrambling to stay in long rallies. Federer, a six-time champion at the season-ending event for the top eight players in the world,...
10:00 PM, Nov 08, 2012
London: Novak Djokovic no longer hits the panic button when faced with a crisis, he just keeps calm and waits for his chance. The five-times grand slam champion was as cool as a cucumber on Wednesday as he withstood the best that fierce rival Andy Murray could throw at him to earn his second successive victory at this year's ATP World Tour Finals. World number one Djokovic eventually prevailed 4-6...
10:14 AM, Nov 08, 2012
London: Mahesh Bhupathi and Rohan Bopanna on Wednesday won their first Group B match with a 6-3 5-7 10-5 win over Robert Lindstedt and Horia Tecau to keep their semifinal at the ATP World Tour Finals. It was a good comeback for fifth seeds Bhupathi and Bopanna after losing the first match to Jonathan Marray and Frederik Nielsen. Bhupathi and Bopanna raced to a 3-0 lead by breaking Lindstedt's serve...
08:42 PM, Nov 07, 2012
London: The Indian pair of Mahesh Bhupathi and Rohan Bopanna squandered two match points before losing its first match of the ATP World Tour Finals against Jonathan Marray and Frederik Nielsen on Tuesday. The Indians, making their debut as a pair in the elite season-ending event, lost their Group B match 6-4 7-6 (1) 10-12 against the British-Denmark combination in one hour and 36 minutes. Bhupathi and Bopanna are coming...
08:54 PM, Nov 06, 2012
London: A tired sounding Novak Djokovic says he will need to draw on all his mental and physical strength if he is to crown another stellar season with the ATP World Tour Finals title. The Serb heads into his opening match with Frenchman Jo-Wilfried Tsonga on Monday safe in the knowledge that he will end the year as the world number for the second consecutive year. Whether he can add...
10:20 AM, Nov 05, 2012
London: Roger Federer wants more blood testing done in tennis to help keep the sport clear of doping, the 17-times grand slam champion said on the eve of the ATP World Tour Finals. Britain's newly-crowned US Open champion Andy Murray raised the subject this week at the Paris Masters, suggesting there needed to be more out-of-competition checks. World Tour Finals title holder Federer said his Scottish rival had a point....
09:55 AM, Nov 05, 2012
London: When Andy Murray steps out on court to face Tomas Berdych in his first match at the ATP World Tour Finals on Monday the expectation he usually shoulders will weigh a little less. The season-ending event will be the London-based Scot's first tournament on home soil after he finally made his major breakthrough by winning the US Open in September, beating Novak Djokovic in an epic final. The 25-year-old...
12:18 PM, Nov 04, 2012
