Djokovic Downs Federer to Win Fourth Straight ATP Finals

In a match that essentially symbolized the year that was 2015 in the ATP World Tour, Novak Djokovic dispatched Roger Federer 6-3, 6-4 to win the ATP World Tour Finals in London for the fourth straight year on Sunday afternoon.

The win capped off a fantastic year for the Serb, who reached all four Grand Slam finals, winning three of them, and finishing with an 82-6 record overall.

“I couldn’t ask for a better finish of the season,” said Djokovic. “For some reason or another, I’ve been playing some of my best tennis after the U.S. Open, in Asia and also indoors, both Paris and London.”

Federer actually entered this match with a 3-0 record during the round-robin stage, including a straight-set victory over Djokovic last week.

But Djokovic came out the aggressor in this one, securing the first break of the match in the third game to take a 2-1 lead. The set would remain on serve, and after Djokovic saved a couple of break points, would take the opening set 6-3 from the Swiss.

In the second set, both players had some early chances to breaks, but both held their nerve for holds through the opening nine games. With Djokovic up 5-4, and Federer serving to stay in the match, the Serb opened up a 30-0 advantage, and then a 40-15 lead, before eventually securing the break point and closing out the match for his fourth consecutive ATP World Tour Finals title.

“I think what I managed to do better than what I’ve done in the last match we played in the group stage here was the fact that I was more solid from back of the court,” said Djokovic. “I served well when I needed to. I got myself out of trouble. I returned more balls back than I did five days ago. I think that helped me to get into the rally. I always try to make him play one extra shot.”

Federer finishes the season at 63-11 and was contesting in his 15th straight end of the year finals.

“It would have been nice to serve a little bit better early on in the match, play better overall on his second serve, because he does allow you to play on his second serve,” said Federer. “Maybe at times I went for too much. It was close. [The] first six games were tough, to be down 2-4. I had my chances to at least be even. Still high-quality match, I thought.”