Novak Djokovic admitted his great season had an "awkward end" after Roger Federer withdrew from Sunday's ATP World Tour final in London. Federer had to pull out due to a back problem after having played a tense and lengthy match against fellow Swiss Stan Wawrinka on Saturday. World number one Djokovic received the trophy before playing an exhibition set against Andy Murray.
"You cannot blame Roger. I'm sure he would play the World Tour finals if he could," said Djokovic. "This is probably the first time in history that this happens. It's a very awkward situation to talk about, to be honest. You never like to win, especially these big matches against big rivals, with the retirement, but that's the way it is." Andy Murray stepped in to cover for Federer even though he was asked to do so a few hours before the event.
"I want to thank him for coming out and making an effort," said Djokovic. "It really is an effort. I know how it feels when you finish the season, as he did on Thursday. Probably the last thing he's thinking about is tennis now. He wants to rest after a long season. It's very genuine from him." Djokovic ends another year as world number one, he has achieved that for the third time in four years and also won his seventh Grand Slam title at Wimbledon. "Right now I'm at the pinnacle in my career," he said. "I physically feel very fit. I'm very motivated to keep on playing at a very high level. So as long as it's like that, I'm going to try to use these years in front of me to fight for number one in the world and to fight for the biggest titles in the sport."
The first challenge after a well-deserved holiday for Djokovic is the Australian Open in 2015, he is 5/4 to win the tournament at Bet365.
Shumar4life
9 years ago
Djokovic had one more good season, and he deserved to be on top of the world in this days. Of course he has one or two more objectives such as Rolan Garos. But it would be very hard after couple a years to watch tennis without Djokovic Nadal and Federer because they will not be any younger during the years
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timidi 9 years ago
Well done to Novak Djokovic but for me in this moment we have two players who are better than him. First is Roger Federer who is one of the greatest player that ever played tennis and secon is rafa nadal. I am big fan of Nadal and I think that Nadal will be first if he is not injured. But I saw that he will be ready for...
Well done to Novak Djokovic but for me in this moment we have two players who are better than him. First is Roger Federer who is one of the greatest player that ever played tennis and secon is rafa nadal. I am big fan of Nadal and I think that Nadal will be first if he is not injured. But I saw that he will be ready for Australian open and I can't wait to see him again
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Spark 9 years ago
Very happy for Novak. This is his third consecutive win at the Final Masters, and very much deserved. Having waited for the final eagerly, safe to say i was disappointed when hearing the news that Roger is out. Would've been a great final, considering both players showed immense form in the group stage.
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kkole 9 years ago
@VlahovicNovo I can't believe that you are talking like that about Roger Federer. And even if it is a joke I think that is not right to joke like that. I mean Novak is great player, he deserve to be on first place on the world but we should show some respect for Roger. He done a lot in his career and in this late age (for...
@VlahovicNovo I can't believe that you are talking like that about Roger Federer. And even if it is a joke I think that is not right to joke like that. I mean Novak is great player, he deserve to be on first place on the world but we should show some respect for Roger. He done a lot in his career and in this late age (for tennis) he play great and I love him. So congratulations for Novak but BIG BIG respect for Roger Federer
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VlahovicNovo
9 years ago
Like we all expect Novak is the best this season and last 5 years.Very dominantly he finish this season and last match should been played but Fedex is scary :). Next year i think that Novak can win Roland Garros and Cinncinati masters , tournaments which he has not won yet.
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sebeksk 9 years ago
Novak Djokovic is deservedly won this trophy. He was very good from the beginning of the tournament, and defeated every opponent very easy. Unfortunately we are deprived grand finale, because of leaving of Roger Federer before the match even started. Good luck to Novak Djokovic in 2015.
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