Fans came out to London's O2 Arena expecting a classic as Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer faced off for the second time this week at the ATP World Tour Finals. On Tuesday during round robin group play, the Swiss legend ended Djokovic's 38 match win streak on indoor hard courts using his variety to break down the world's top ranked player. Today's match never lived up to the hype as the Serb won in straight sets over Federer.
Federer can't recover from early break in first set
Right out of the gate in today's match, Federer was in trouble. Early unforced errors and struggles on serve saw Federer broken in his second service game with a forehand into the net. The early stages of the match were reminiscent to yesterday's semifinal against Stan Wawrinka, which saw Federer struggle in early service games before settling in to take control of the match. Down a break to Djokovic, Federer needed to make the most of every opportunity he could against the top seed which were few and far between. Serving up 3-2 and not yet looking at his best, Djokovic opened the door for Federer to get back into the match going down 0-30 with some errors. The Serb then hit a passing shot wide to set up a break point opportunity. Federer wasn't able to capitalize. making an error off his backhand as he lost his only chance in the opening set to get back into the match. Federer was pressing hard to keep the points short and to attack, but his execution was poor and he continued to make unforced errors. Djokovic stayed back and continued hitting cleanly and scorching the court with great passing shots when Federer came into net. Djokovic broke the Federer serve for a second time late to capture the opening set 6-3.
Djokovic untroubled on serve in second set
In the opening set, Djokovic did not need to play his best to win. He did raise his game noticeably in the second to fend off an improved Federer. Djokovic was able to control his service games well and remained consistent from the baseline. The top seed hit a flurry of backhand winners towards the end of the match, and wasn't intimidated by Federer's constant approaches to the net. With Federer serving from behind, the Swiss was under constant scoreboard pressure. Serving down 3-4, Federer fell behind 0-40 following a phenomenal cross court forehand passing shot winner from his opponent. Federer mounted a strong comeback in that game to the delight of the vocal crowd in London. The third seed had to serve against three match points and won the game off of five first serves. With the crowd rallying behind fan favorite Federer and Novak starting to look frustrated, it appeared this could be a turning point in the match. Djokovic wasn't deterred by his missed break chances though as Federer faltered serving to stay in the match. The Swiss double faulted on Djokovic's second match point to give the Serb a 6-3, 6-4 victory.
Djokovic's Notable Season
The 2015 ATP season has concluded in a fashion similar to nearly all the major tournaments this year, with th 28-year-old Djokovic seeming a cut above the rest. For Djokovic. this concludes what has been an incredible year. The top ranked men's player won three Grand Slams and 11 titles in 16 tournaments overall. Djokovic managed to reach the final in all but one tournament he played in 2015. He he will enter 2016 full of confidence with little reason to expect anything but a repeat performance or better. The next major, the Australian Open, is less than two months away. That gives the top players who participated in London little time to rest and recoup before a busy season that will also include the Olympic games in Brazil.