Andy Murray defeated Novak Djokovic in the ATP World Tour Finals with his 6-3, 6-4 victory last Sunday at London's O2 Arena. Murray, who has lived his tennis life in the shadow of Djokovic for most of his career, has finally risen to number one.
According to Mirror, Andy Murray succeeded the critical first set in 46 minutes with a single break driven by another punishing forehand deep into Djokovic's backhand. He dashed to a double break in the second before the real Djokovic took the place of the poor impersonator to be worthy of his solitary break and drove the Scot to close out the match 6-4 6-3 in 103 minutes.
"To finish the year world No. 1 is very special. It's something I never expected," said Murray after the game.He also added "I couldn't have done it without my team. My family as well -- they've been around for a long time and made a lot of sacrifices for me."
Novak Djokovic, the Serb born within seven days of Murray in May 1987 was all praises for his opponent. "Andy is definitely the number one in the world. He is the best player. He deserved to win. He played better in the decisive moments and I wasn't able to come back. I started to play better at the end of the match but it was too late," he said.
CNN reports that it was the match tennis fans had all been waiting for. It was also a battle of two childhood friends for the top spot in the finale of the year-end championships. According to Djokovic, the game was like a "movie scenario" and the "perfect ending" is how Murray put it.
After the match, Djokovic congratulated Murray's wife Kim. In addition, he told the media to let Andy enjoy this moment and not to distract him with questions regarding the next season. "He deserves to be in the moment and to really take everything in what he achieved," said Djokovic.