Djokovic Storms Past Berdych, Secures Year-End No. 1 Ranking
Following up on his remarkably breezy matches in London so far this week, top seed Novak Djokovic extended his indoor record to 30 straight wins when he cruised past Tomas Berdych to remain undefeated in the round robin stage of the tournament and officially cement his year-end spot atop the rankings.
The Serbian star got off to a whirlwind start against his Czech opponent, as he took command of the match and jumped to a 3-0 lead within the first 10 minutes of the contest. He would maintain that double break advantage throughout the remainder of the set and would only surrender two games in the process.
The second set was much of the same from Djokovic, as he quickly secured another double break lead at 4-0 and appeared to be in a remarkably comfortable spot in his final round robin encounter.
Djokovic has now secured the year-end No. 1 ranking for the third time in four years, with the exception of 2013, which Nadal won. He is just the seventh player to achieve this feat and was awarded the trophy in front of legends John McEnroe, Boris Becker, Mats Wilander and Carlos Moya
“Being World No. 1 is probably one of the most difficult and biggest challenges that a tennis player can have, so it’s incredibly fulfilling and I’m very happy with this achievement,” said Djokovic. “It’s been a long year and it’s one of the ultimate challenges. I’m just glad to be standing here with the trophy knowing how many legends of the sport have done the same before.”