(November 11, 2012) It’s appropriate that the top two players in the world will meet in the final of the ATP World Tour Finals on Monday night in the O2 Arena in London.
No. 1 Novak Djokovic was down a set and a break before rallying to stop Juan Martin Del Potro 4-6, 6-3, 6-2 in a day session semifinal on Sunday. No. 2 Roger Federer took out Andy Murray 7-6 (5), 6-2 in the evening session.
“I knew that if I lose today it’s the end of the season, so I gave everything I had and couldn’t be more happy,” Federer said on court after the match to the British crowd.
“I started the match off very well,” said Murray after the match. “I was going for my shots a lot. I was playing very aggressive on the return. Then he started to serve a little bit better. I missed a few more returns. Then, when he got the break back, he started to play better. I hung on a little bit the end of the first set.”
Federer found himself recovering from both an early break in the first set and a 1-3 deficit in the tiebreak to hold off Murray to take the set 7-6(5).
Federer broke Murray twice in the second set, losing a mere two points on his own serve.
Once he gets ahead, he’s incredibly hard to stop,” said Murray. “He tends to play better and better when he gets up. I feel like I gave him that advantage the beginning of the second set.”
Djokovic had to rebound from a slow start.
“Well, I had a little, let’s say, crisis in today’s match from 4-all, first set to 2-all in the second, where I didn’t feel so good on the court, struggling to find my momentum and my rhythm,” Djokovic said. “So you try to be positive and push myself to fight for every point and believe I can come back. That was the case.”
“He’s so good,” Del Potro said. “Of course, he’s the No. 1. In these kinds of matches, they make the difference between them and the rest of the players.”
“I believed that I could come back,” said Djokovic. “I believed that I could turn this match around in my favor, and I’ve done so.”
“I’m very pleased, it’s the first final here in London,” said Djokovic. “I haven’t played a final of the [ATP] World Tour Finals since 2008. I really look forward to it. It’s already a great success [to get to this stage]. But knowing it’s the last match of the season, I’m really going to try to give my best physically and mentally tomorrow to eventually try to get the trophy.”
Federer will be going for his 7th year-end title, while Djokovic is looking for his second. Djokovic won the ATP World Tour finals in 2008. Federer leads overall head-to-head against Djokovic 16-12.
RESULTS FOR SUNDAY, 11 NOVEMBER 2012
Singles – Semi-finals
[1] N Djokovic (SRB) d [6] J del Potro (ARG) 46 63 62
[2] R Federer (SUI) d [3] A Murray (GBR) 76(5) 62
Doubles – Semi-finals
[5] M Bhupathi (IND) / R Bopanna (IND) d [3] L Paes (IND) / R Stepanek (CZE) 46 61 12-10 – saved 1 M.P.
[6] M Granollers (ESP) / M Lopez (ESP) d [8] J Marray (GBR) / F Nielsen (DEN) 64 63