world #2 novak djokovic of serbia defeated world #1 rafael nadal of spain 6-3, 6-4 on monday to win the barclays atp world tour finals in london. djokovic successfully defended his title by capping off the year with his 22nd consecutive victory. his run started after nadal beat him in the us open final and replaced him atop the rankings.
afterwards, djokovic said, "the most positive thing that i can take from those two and a half months is the fact that i managed to regroup after few big losses against nadal, especially in roland garros, us open final and wimbledon final." djokovic became the seventh player to win the season-ending tournament of the world's elite eight three times.
djokovic has beaten nadal 10 out of 19 finals and is 13-7 against him on hard courts. djokovic said, "year-end number one is deservedly in nadal's hands because he had two grand slam wins, the best season out of all players, the most titles. i think that's no doubt, cannot question that. i tried to put aside the calculations and the rankings after the us open and just tried to focus on one tournament at a time, one day at a time. that kind of attitude has helped me to get to where i am this moment."
the affable serb is poised to reclaim his #1 ranking at the first major in 2014. djokovic is the three-tine defending champion at the australian open. he served well, returned well and volleyed well to a resounding win in straight sets - the only tournament missing from nadal's resume. the two have played each other 39 times: more than any male players in the open era, with nadal leading 22-17.
nadal had an opportunity to join andre agassi as the only players to have won all four majors, olympic gold, the davis cup and the year-end tournament. nadal said, "it's not going to change my career, winning or losing today. i am not very disappointed. i know that i was not the favorite for the match, even if i tried with the right attitude, in my opinion, fighting for every moment, trying to be positive in every moment, even if the match was not going the way that i would like."
the popular spaniard's return to the #1 ranking came on the heels of a stunning comeback from a career-threatening knee injury - sidelining him for seven months. nadal played his first match in february and finished 2013 with a 75-7 record. the charismatic lefty won ten titles, including the french open, the us open and five masters 1000 titles.
i am
- mark j. tuggle
- harlem, usa
- same-gender-loving contemporary descendant of enslaved africans. community activist, feminist, health educator, independent filmmaker, mentor, playwright, poet & spiritual being. featured at, in & on africana.com, afrikan poetry theatre, angel herald, bejata dot com, bet tonight with tavis smiley, blacklight online, black noir, brooklyn moon cafe, gmhc's barbershop, klmo-fm, lgbt community services center, longmoor productions, nuyorican poets cafe, our corner, poz, pulse, rolling out new york, rush arts gallery, saint veronica's church, schomburg center for research in black culture, sexplorations, the citizen, the new york times, the soundz bar, the trenton times, the village voice, upn news, uzuri, venus, vibe, wbai-fm, wnyc-fm & wqht-fm. volunteered with adodi, bailey house, inc., black men's xchange-new york, colorofchange.org, drug policy alliance, east harlem tutorial program, imagenation film & music festival, presente.org, save darfur coalition, the enough project, the osborne association, the sledge group & your black world. worked on films with maurice jamal & heather murphy. writing student of phil bertelsen & ed bullins. mjt975@msn.com.
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