Novak Djokovic celebrates Serbia's ATP Cup win It was Serbia’s main man Novak Djokovic who helped seal things for Serbia at this weekends ATP Cup final in Sydney. Novak has played a crucial role for his country throughout the inaugural tournament, but no more so than on the final day which saw him take on world number 1 Rafael Nadal.
Djokovic won his ninth consecutive match on hard courts against Nadal and extended his set win streak to 19 (since 2013 US Open final) against the World No. 1 with the 6-2, 7-6(4) win. Nadal has now not beaten Djokovic on a hard court since winning the US Open in 2013. The win saw both sides head into a deciding final doubles fixture that would feature Serbia’s Djokovic and partner Viktor Troicki against Spain’s Carreno Busta and Feliciano López, a match in which the Serb’s claimed a 6-3,6-2 win for the ATP title.
The 32 year old Djokovic, who now holds 16 grand slam world titles spanning over 15 years says that there is no sweeter victory than the one obtained over this past weekend.
“I’ve been very fortunate and blessed to have an amazing career the last 15 years but playing for the country with some of my best friends… you can’t match that. That’s just too special.”
Djokovic’s win against Nadal of course was not an easy one despite the Serb dominating the opening stanza, putting Nadal on the defensive early on with his characteristic quick returns and tremendous rally endurance, Nadal looking to struggle with the pace throughout. Djokovic seemed unstoppable with the racket as he claimed the first set 6-2. In true Nadal fashion though he fought back aggressively to level things in the second set 5-5, both players putting on an enthralling battle with the ball. The class and shear determination of both players shown through in true final fashion in the following two sets, the game levelled at 6-6 before Djokovic finally broke the deadlock to win 7-6, a net fault the deciding move from Nadal.
The serbs went onto the doubles against Spain in positive fashion, Djokovic deciding to continue on with his partner Viktor Troicki. The atmosphere slightly underwhelmed at the opportunity to host another doubles final featuring the world’s number 1 and 2, however this was not to be as Nadal decided to sit out of the tie, his team mates Carreno Busta and Feliciano López taking the honours of stopping Nadal in his track to the first ATP cup title.
The doubles final started in favour of the Spanish as they took an early 3-1 lead over Serbia, both sides showing incredible signs of athleticism as lob after lob was returned by either side, a net fault the deciding end to a first half rally. Serbia managed to grit their teeth to come from behind and clinch a 6-3 lead in the first game. The second was again dominated by Djokovic and his partner as they powered over the spanish to clinch a 6-4 win in emphatic style.
The final score 6-3,6-4 to Serbia, and a first ATP Cup title for the Serbians and Djokovic
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