Novak Djokovic retained his ATP World Tour Finals trophy with a superb straight set victory over Rafael Nadal in the final match between the two best players in the world at the O2 Arena on Monday.
The 26-year-old claimed a 6-3, 6-4 victory over the Spaniard, ending the season with a 22-match unbeaten run and becoming one of seven players to have won the season-ending tournament three times.
The Serb has not lost a single match since losing to Nadal in the final of the US Open and has gone on to win the Beijing, Shanghai and the Paris Open.
“We push each other to the limit (and) we make each other better,” said Djokovic. “We make each other work harder on our games, especially, especially when we play against each other. It’s always a huge challenge.”
The victory helps Djokovic maintain a tight grip on their head-to-head meeting record as he has now won 23 of their 39 meetings.
Nadal, who recently reclaimed the world number one title from Djokovic, was denied an opportunity to win his first ATP Tour title, contested for by the 8 best tennis players in the world. Nadal was also looking to become the third Spaniard after Manuel Orantes in 1975 and Alex Corretja in 1998 to win the title.
Djokovic, who boasts a better indoor record among the two London finalists in 2013, ensured he maintained his dominance in the game by making some impressive returns and moving so well in the first three games of the opening set. The Majorcan came back into the contest but it was too late for him to overturn Djokovic’s quest for a successful defence.
“After the US Open final, I needed to take things slowly and set and analyse what I did wrong, especially in the matches against him, to understand what I need to do in order to win against him. There is a big team of people around me that are very professional and they’ve done their best in order for me to improve my game,” Djokovic added.
The 27-year-old world number one might have won his five earlier meetings with Djokovic this year but Mon day’s victory means Nadal will have to hold on to his 10 titles in the 2013 season.
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