World No. 1 Novak Djokovic followed Rafael Nadal and Andy Murray out of the ATP World Tour Finals on Friday when he lost to fellow Serb Janko Tipsarevic for the first time.
As round-robin action concluded at the O2 Arena a jaded-looking Djokovic was beaten 3-6, 6-3, 6-3 to end Group A with two defeats and one victory and leave Roger Federer as the only member of the “Big Four” to reach the weekend.
Djokovic would still have squeezed into the semi-finals of the season-ender through the back door had David Ferrer beaten Tomas Berdych, but the Spanish dynamo also appeared to run out of steam, going down 3-6, 7-5, 6-1.
Photo: AFP
After staring elimination in the face when he twice went a break down in the second set, Berdych roared back to win Group A and thus avoid a semi-final against holder Roger Federer, who is the red-hot favorite for a record sixth title at the tournament.
The Czech instead faces Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, the charismatic Frenchman who sent Nadal packing on Thursday, in one semi-final, while Ferrer’s punishment for letting Berdych off the hook is a clash with Federer, who he trails 11-0 in career meetings.
“I never win against Roger and I hope I can change that,” Ferrer, who led 4-3, 40-15 in the second set against Berdych, told reporters before walking away rather stiffly to try and recover for his semi-final.
Djokovic’s exit means the top three players in the world all failed to survive the group stage, although in Murray’s case he withdrew after his loss to Ferrer with a groin injury.
Tipsarevic, who replaced Murray, walked off with earnings of US$190,000 after finishing his year with a first ever victory over close friend Djokovic — US$70,000 as his fee for being the on-site alternate and US$120,000 for his sole win.
While he was delighted with his victory, Tipsarevic said his opponent, winner of three of the year’s four Grand Slam titles, was not firing on all cylinders.
“I’m not trying to undermine my performance or my victory today, but I can freely say that this was not Novak Djokovic from the US Open or Wimbledon,” Tipsarevic said.
Djokovic began the match aggressively, striking the ball into the corners with accuracy and pace.
A single break of serve was enough to claim the opening set and he still looked comfortable early in the second as the goatee-bearded world No. 9 Tipsarevic hung on grimly.
However, gradually the fizz went out of Djokovic’s ground-strokes and a match that he appeared to have in his pocket suddenly began to drift away as Tipsarevic began to dictate many of the baseline exchanges with some venomous hitting.
He broke in the sixth game when Djokovic netted a lazy drop shot attempt, but surrendered the advantage immediately.
Some ragged play, including a double fault by Djokovic at deuce, then helped Tipsarevic break again for a 5-3 lead and he held serve to level the match.
Tipsarevic carried his momentum into the third set and broke with an angled winner after dragging Djokovic to the net with a poorly disguised drop shot that should have been punished.
By the time Djokovic buried a forehand into the net to end the contest he appeared to be running on empty.
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