Novak Djokovic has taken the first battle of the 2017 ATP World Tour season against Andy Murray, beating the Scot 6-3, 5-7, 6-4 to defend his Qatar ExxonMobil Open title and exact revenge on the World No. 1. In an electrifying final, the Serbian captured his first title since July (Rogers Cup) and showed some of the fiery tennis that helped him dominate the first half of 2016. The 29 year old frequently encouraged the crowd to back him, lifting his arms and pumping his fist while staring into the stands. “Best scenario I could ask for at the beginning of the season. Playing all five matches in this tournament and then three hours against No. 1 of the world,...
Andy Murray and Novak Djokovic are starting 2017 right where they left off in 2016. On Saturday, the two will play for the Qatar ExxonMobil Open title, the first singles crown to be decided during the young 2017 ATP World Tour season. “It's a great test tomorrow. To start the year, it's great to play against one of the best in the world,” Murray said. “We know each other's games better than we know anyone else's.” Murray advanced to the title match by beating third seed Tomas Berdych 6-3, 6-4 on Friday evening. The Scot extended two streaks with the one-hour and 41-minute victory. Murray pushed his overall winning streak to 28. He also beat Berdych for the seventh consecutive...
Novak Djokovic survived a serious scare from Fernando Verdasco at the Qatar ExxonMobil Open on Friday, fighting off five match points to rally past the Spaniard 4-6, 7-6(7), 6-3 and reach his first ATP World Tour final of 2017. The Serbian was down 2/6 in the second-set tie-break but erased the four match points – and another at 6/7 – to even the match. Verdasco held to open the third set but Djokovic broke two times in the decider. “It was quite a thrilling experience for me to be able to go five match points down... I'm obviously very pleased because you need these kind of matches, these kind of confidence boosters, for whatever is coming up after that,” Djokovic...
Novak Djokovic talks about saving five match points during his semi-final match against Fernando Verdasco at the Qatar ExxonMobil Open in Doha. Video courtesy of UCOM.