The Swiss legend was nominated alongside Rafael Nadal, David Ferrer and Kevin Anderson for the award, but the trio must have known they were up against it given Federer’s complete dominance of the award, which is voted for by the players on the ATP Tour.
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When asked if the problem was a concern heading into the World Tour Finals and Davis Cup final later this month, Murray – who underwent back surgery in September 2013 – told Sky Sports: “No, I don’t think so”.
Nishikori added: “He played unbelievable tennis”.
Djokovic, 28, won the Australian Open, Wimbledon and US Open, and went within one match of the calendar Grand Slam, losing to Stan Wawrinka in the French Open final.
The eighth seed and 2014 semi-finalist duly converted that chance, serving out to love to clinch the victory in just shy of two hours and 30 minutes. Why I’m able to continue on and kind of maintain this consistency or this success is because I’m trying to not think too much in advance because whatever happened in the past is behind me and whatever is in the future, I don’t know what’s going to happen.
A back problem caused him to pull out before the final in London past year and he was well beaten by Gael Monfils in his first singles match in the Davis Cup before recovering to win the doubles and the decisive singles. Federer may not be as good as Djokovic but he has hundreds of trophies under his belt.
It proved costly as Berdych dropped serve in the next game and Nishikori clinched the set on serve with a pinpoint forehand victor past the wrong-footed Czech.
Djokovic once again made a would-be rival look ordinary in a 65-minute 6-1 6-1 thrashing of Kei Nishikori, who later admitted he was “very ashamed” of the scoreline.
The world number one oozed confidence as he talked about his display, saying: “I think I was at my best”.
The world No 1 began his campaign to win the season-ending Barclays ATP World Tour Finals at the O2 Arena for the fourth year in a row with a crushing 6-1, 6-1 victory yesterday over Kei Nishikori.
Djokovic and Nishikori had stood heads bowed before their match to respect a minute’s silence in a darkened arena for the victims of Friday’s Paris attacks.
The Czech, on the other hand, is much more experienced at round-robin than Nishikori – Berdych is making his sixth appearance at the World Tour Finals, whereas this is just Nishikori’s second – and he doesn’t look like anything too much is bothering him physically.
Acknowledging the need for heightened security, Haggerty said: “We follow a rigorous process that includes regular consultation with our experts to ensure that we take every precaution to safeguard our events, fans and players”. The seventh-seeded Spaniard had eight double-faults and landed only 49 percent of his first serves.
The Scot then won four of the five remaining points to clinch the first set.
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“It would be obviously nice to finish number two because I haven’t done it before, but it’s not a goal that I’d set for myself at the beginning of this year”, Murray said.
