Djokovic Battles Past Federer

Djokovic serves to Federer

Novak Djokovic beat Roger Federer for the second time in a matter of days to start to defence of his ATP Tour Finals title in style.

Djokovic claimed a 6-4 6-7 6-2 victory over the World Number 6 in front of a capacity crowd at the O2 Arena in London. This result keeps Djokovic's slim hopes of returning to World Number 1 alive for a little bit longer. 

This match was the headline act of an already action packed day and the men who have a total of 23 Grand Slams between them did not disappoint.  However Federer could not match the consistency of Djokovic from the back of the court and on serve at the crucial moments in the game. 

Despite both mens success it was obvious from the start that the majority of the crowd were supporting Federer, who despite a disappointing season always has massive support around the world. 

After a tight start which had seen the score at 4-4, Federer managed to manoeuvre a break point chance however his forehand shot just dropped out much to the disappointment of his supporters within crowd of whom the majority thought it was in. 

This miss was compounded as Djokovic then broke Federer after some wayward forehands to hand the World Number 2 the opening set in 37 minutes. 

At the beginning of the second set Federer came out firing but despite breaking Djokovic on two occasions he could not take advantage. At 5-4 Federer was serving for the set however another loose forehand saw him miss the opportunity to seal the set. 

On to a tie-break, and Federer steamed into a 4-2 lead with a stunning forehand that just brushed the line. Federer went on a win the next 3 points and send this match into a deciding 3rd set.

Having only played two days before in his victory at the Paris Masters it appeared that maybe Djokovic was struggling. He was visible angry with himself at the end of the second set. Maybe a chance for Federer to push on and use the forward momentum he appeared to have but such thoughts soon disappeared as Djokovic broke to love in the first game of the third set, which set the scene for what followed.

Djokovic suddenly upped a gear and powered his way to a 5-1 lead breaking Federer twice. Now serving superbly and finding the lines with ease he closed out the set to love to extend his winning run to 18 matches since his defeat in the US Open final back in September. 

The defending Champion looks on course to retain his title and after witnessing his performance today it is hard to back against him. I had never really appreciated just how good he is until I saw him live in this match. Personally I just think he will be too strong for anyone in the competition. 

For Federer it highlighted the problems he has been having all season however he has certainly improved of late. He did not play that badly it was just at the key moments he faltered. I expect him to beat Richard Gasquet however Juan Martin Del Potro with be a very tough match.