Novak Djokovic believes Andy Murray should be allowed to enjoy ending the season as world No 1, and not be questioned about keeping the ranking in 2017.
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Murray beat Novak Djokovic 6-3, 6-4 Sunday to earn his first title at the ATP finals, and make sure he remained No. 1 until next season. “It’s something I never expected”, Murray reflected after the match. “I was very exhausted last night before I went to bed and just wanted to go out and give everything I had”.
First up on London’s O2 Arena was the match-up between Murray and world number four Milos Raonic.
“Obviously it was unbelievably tough”, Murray said.
“Thankfully the first sort of seven games of the match, there was no long rallies, which for us is unusual”. This is one of the biggest matches we will ever play against each other..
In the first set Murray was uncharacteristically error-prone and at 6-5 behind he conceded three set points.
Djokovic leads the head-to-head 24-10 and has won 13 of their last 15 matches, including victories in the finals of the Australian Open, Madrid Open and French Open this year.
Having spent the majority of his career overshadowed by the incredible achievements of Djokovic, Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal, Murray can finally claim he is the best player on the planet and he has no intention of relinquishing his grip on that honour without a fight. “I’ve played so much tennis the last few months”. While the Brit has won only one of their four clashes in 2016, he has been on top of his game since his gold medal-winning campaign at the Rio Olympics in August. After exchanging a series of backhands, the two-time Olympic champion fires an angled forehand that Djoker can not return, and Murray breaks for a 5-3 lead en route to a first frame win.
The win is Murray’s 24th in a row and brings an end to a career-best season that has also seen him win a second Wimbledon crown and successfully defend his Olympic title.
The Scot, who was given another standing ovation when he walked on court, said: “Kei was making me run a lot, he was dictating a bunch of the points”.
In the final set, Murray was twice unable to serve out the match and he squandered three match points in the second tiebreak.
“I’m happy to get the win today and finish the year No. 1”.
The first real test of the match for both came in Djokovic’s third service game.
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Speaking earlier in the week, three-time Finals champion John McEnroe told BBC Sport: “Novak still has a decided edge in the bigger matches and a much better head-to-head”.
