Internet Desk: Beginning 2017 on the right foot, Serbian Novak Djokovic earned his first title of the season in the first competition he played. To do so, he needed to breach Andy Murray’s excellent sequence in the ATP 250 decision in Doha, Qatar. Strikingly, the world number 2 took the best by 2 sets to 1 – with partial of 6/3, 5/7 and 6/4, in 2 hours and 53 minutes of departure.
With the achievement, Djokovic defended the title he won at the beginning of last year and raised his 67th trophy as a single on the ATP professional circuit. The Serbian broke off a nearly six-month fast, something unusual in his trajectory, since his last achievement was in July of last year at the Masters 1000 in Toronto, Canada.
The win this Saturday also made Djokovic disrupt the incredible sequence of the one who has been his biggest rival in recent times. It was Murray who put him out of the World No. 1 spot in November 2016.
The Briton, in fact, came from 28 consecutive victories in the professional circuit, a retrospective that gave him the titles of the last five tournaments that he played until Doha: the ATP 500 of Beijing (China), the Masters 1000 of Shanghai (China), the ATP 500 Of Vienna (Austria), the Masters 1000 of Paris (France) and ATP Finals, in London (England).
From the beginning, it was clear that this was a game of the highest level, between the two greatest tennis players today. Good drafts, strong punches, steep climbs and even “let-downs” charmed the audience and the players could barely threaten the opponents’ serve.
But the first time he found himself in trouble, Murray became unsettled. In the eighth game, he had a 40/15 advantage, but lost four points in a row, and in the last, hit the ball with the rim of the racket. Consequently, he lost the game and the set, leaving Djokovic to take the lead.
The second half looked like a mirror of the first in the early games. Great performances in the looting and beautiful blows, until Murray’s mistakes reappear. In the seventh game, the Briton failed too much and gave the advantage to the rival with a double fault.
It seemed to be the end of Murray. Djokovic would win for the victory in the 10th game, came to open advantage and had match points in his favor. But the Briton was surviving, throwing the pressure to the other side and then it was the turn of the Serb to fail and give the tie to the rival.
The mistakes made Djokovic furious, as was clear in the next game. With 30/30, in the serve of Murray, the Serbian lost point silly, got angry and broke the racket. Already had a warning, took the second, lost one more point and, consequently, the game. The British then took advantage, broke the opponent again and took the game to the third set.
In the third set, Murray had a dangerous game early in his first service, but survived. He had a chance to break in the sixth game and played perhaps his worst game then allowing Djokovic again to reach 4/3 and serve. This time, despite another very tense game, Djokovic was aggressive and precise to close the game and the set.