Masters Cup - Djokovic wins Masters Cup
Eurosport - Mon, 17 Nov 09:27:00 2008
Serbia's world number three Novak Djokovic beat Russian Nikolay Davydenko 6-1 7-5 to win the Masters Cup in Shanghai.
The Australian Open champion, who lost all of his matches without winning a set on his debut at the season finale last year, played his best tennis of the week in the final at the Qi Zhong Stadium.
The 21-year-old Djokovic celebrated by kissing the court and tossing his racket and shirt into the crowd after seeing off Davydenko in one hour and 42 minutes.
"I'm very, very happy," he said. "It's a great achievement for me. The best eight players playing here says everything about the quality of the event and I would definitely put it on a level with the Grand Slams."
Djokovic, the first Serb to win the men's year-ending championship, also earned £834,000 to move to within 10 ranking points of world number two Roger Federer, who crashed out at the round-robin stage.
Having been a model of inconsistency in his earlier matches, the black-clad Djokovic played almost perfect tennis on his way to winning the first set in just over half an hour.
World number five Davydenko, who beat Briton Andy Murray to reach his first Masters Cup final, was bludgeoned into submission by the young Serbian's powerful groundstrokes and sizzling winners.
A string of top quality returns allowed him to break Davydenko's first service game and a drop shot followed by an exquisite lob gave him a 5-0 lead and he quickly.
Davydenko finally got on the board in the next game but despite having two break points when the Serbian was serving for the set, Djokovic rallied to take it 6-1.
Even when the hard-working Russian tried to mix it up by coming to the net, Djokovic had an answer for almost everything and it was no great surprise when the 27-year-old started fluffing simple shots.
He saved two match points at 5-3 in the second set and grabbed his first break of the match for 5-5 but Djokovic hit back and wrapped up his fourth title of the season when the Russian netted a service return.
The season-ending championship moves to London next season after four years in the suburbs of China's financial capital.
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Comment 62 - 81 of 121
nadal will retire n b a bull fighter nk year
WELL DONE NOVAK DJOKOVIC YOU PLAYED WELL TODAY AND DESREVED TO WIN. MAYBE NOW ALL THE NOVAK HATERS WILL SHUT UP. CAN NOVAK BECOME NUMBER ONE NEXT YEAR I THINK HE CAN MORE SO THAN MURRAY.
GOOD LUCK TO ALL THE PLAYERS IN 09
YES MONICA SELES WAS A GREAT PLAYER I MISS HER GAME.
ALISON.
fed will play challenger series wif nadal in 3yrs time.
murray nk world no.1..djkovic no.2..nadal out of top10..
The final was a bit off a let down today, never mind, on to the next competition then.
Started watching the match but fell asleep in between a Djokovic service game. I think he was up to 19 bounces when it happened. yaaaaaaawn!
excuse me? simon as i saw can beat federer, davydenko and del potro are also damn good....
sorry but federer lost to nadal 2:0 on rollan garos and whenever djokovic played vs nadal it would be 3 sets match lasting hours....
he deserved this victory if you can beat him on field then start leaving comments like noli
It's great win no duobt about it. But let's put it in perspective. Djokovic got it easy. He did not have to play any of the 3 other top players: Nadal, Federer and Murray. Davidenko is a real looser. I have never seen him returning from one set down. He very rarely beats players ranked higher than him especially in final game. His win against Murray was a one-win-wonder..
Well done sweetie pie, you end up the year beautifully. Keep up the good work
Again and again people are talking stupidity and not about sport. You, who wrote that Monica Seles was ashamed of Serbia and took american passport, I feel so sorry for you, and in my Serbia this is something worst one can feel for the other!Monica Seles was great tennis player, Novak won again, and not to mention our girls ( JJ No.1) Ana, and other nice young people. Yes, they are from Serbia, and what more do you want to start to ... any way, why should I bother?!
BRAVO NOLE! BRAVO ZIMONJIC AND NESTOR!
ALL THE BEST!
p.s. yes, Andy M. is superb tennis player, I like his style a lot.
my baby my baby my baby. yeaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa djokovic
Even as a fan of Fedex and nadal you cannot say Djokovic didn't deserve it ! It is true that apart from the Australian Open, nearly a year ago, Novak didn't have a great year so I am surprised he's so close to Federer but this the ATP system. with all the victories he had Fedex could only go down unless he won again, you have to substain it.
I hope that both Nadal and Federer recover in time for the Australian Open as there's no point turning up like the swiss did and not being able to play your best tennis. Murray instead made a mistake not to rest against Fedex.
Good to see him back to a fine form he was at AO. If he can keep it, we'll have some changes at the top.
nolilasoy and hmb22, why your comments are so evel. You made your point that you dont like Nole but saing once is enought there is no need to repat it. I am sorry for your haterd you must be deeply sad and unsecesfull persons.
WHAT A NICE PHOTO, NOVAK DJOKOVIC FROM SERBIA WITH MASTERS CUP TROPFY, ONLY 2 POINTS FAR FROM TAKING SECOND PLACE ATP RANKING, ALSO JELENA JANKOVIC FROM SERBIA WTA RANKING NR. 1, ZIMONJIC NENAD FROM SERBIA WITH DANYEL NESTOR ALSO BORNED IN BELGRADE TOOK FIRST ATP DOUBLE RANKING FROM AMERICANS, ANA IVANOVIC FROM SERBIA THE NICEST TENNIS LADY PLAYER IN THE WORLD, SERBIA GETS ATP TOURNAMENT IN BELGRADE,
well the cup is for djokovic to grab since nadal, federer and murray were not there
kill , hdgdy dsshsu znxhsx shjxm bn sbxs xs akas b xs j shnsh x ajnswns asxn xsxu sxnshx !!
write in english idiot !!
To be fair he didnt play the best in the group stages which made it more fresh for the semi and final. He avoided Murray, Federer which was a big bonus. With them and Nadal in a tournament, he will be struggling more.
This was a great match!!! I just have to say something that doesn't concern the match - just because certain people don’t like Djokovic doesn’t mean they should diminish his success. Many people have been saying that Djokovic will NEVER win a Grand Slam…Well he proved them wrong, didn’t he? Now they’re saying that this isn’t good enough, that he didn’t deserve the Australian Open title, that winning the Masters Cup happened because he had an easy draw… People should respect all players and acknowledge their success. Just because you don't like a player doesn't mean you can close your eyes to the very obvious and in this case that is - Djokovic is a great player, these titles haven't just fallen from the sky, he deserved them! Like it or not you should at least admit that! I respect everyone's opinion as long as it is not based on pure hatred.
That is all I have to say.
'oce, malo sutra!
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