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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Tomas Berdych quickly turned his focus to Kei Nishikori at the ATP World Tour Finals, facing an uphill battle to reach the semi-finals.
Djokovic arrived at London’s O2 Arena hoping to win the title for a fifth time and in the process become the first player to lift the trophy four years in a row.
But Federer was strong Tuesday, as he usually is on an indoor hard court.
Djokovic had been untroubled until the 12th game when Federer earned a couple of set points, converting the second with a sublime half-volley dink off a dipping Djokovic backhand.
Although Djokovic broke right back, Federer regained the lead a short time later and won the final four games.
On Sunday, Federer beat Tomas Berdych, giving him a 2-0 record this week.
He will next face Federer on Thursday.
That has not been the case in doubles, and on Sunday lunchtime Jamie Murray and Australian John Peers marked their debut at the tournament with a narrow 7-6 (7/5) 3-6 11-9 victory over Australian Open champions Fabio Fognini and Simone Bolelli.
Yet, when asked about Djokovic’s dominance of men’s tennis and the distance between him and the Serb, the world No 3 said: “I don’t think I’m that far off”.
Sixth seed Berdych was involved in a keenly fought contest against his Japanese opponent and looked to be in the ascendancy when he fought back to level the match at one set all.
Federer is playing at the Tour Finals for a record 14th consecutive year but appeared nervous at the start and consecutive double faults helped Berdych break for 2-0.
The first set went with serve until Nishikori broke for 6-5 and then won the set on serve, having given Berdych plenty to think about with a few clever drop shots and lobs. “Basically, that was the difference today”.
There were worrying signs from Murray minutes later as he grimaced in pain after stretching for a return, but he then erased two break points to hold serve.
Proceedings went with serve until the eighth game when trailing 3-4 and 15-40, the serving Berdych sent a routine forehand into the net, which handed Nishikori the opportunity to serve for the match.
The second and last game was between Federer (2) and Berdych (6). The outcome of the match will determine the victor of their Stan Smith Group, which will advance to the semifinals.
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“This doesn’t feel now so insane early because we’ve had the week of preparation, we’ve both had a match now”.
