Rivalry between Andy Murray and Novak Djokovic is primed to take a U-turn in London – Tennis News
World number one, Novak Djokovic, and the third ranked Briton superstar, Andy Murray, won their initial Round Robin clashes and are set to face each other on the eve of Wednesday. They are bidding for the Association of Tennis
Professionals Tour Finals title and are drawn in the same group alongside the sixth seed Czech star, Tomas Berdych, and the number one Frenchman, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga. Djokovic dispatched Tsonga whilst Murray ousted Berdych after bouncing back a set down to
deny any upset.
Now, the arch rivals will go head-to-head against one another and it will be there 17th battle in the professional tennis; nine of them are won by the 25-year-old Serb who will end the season as the world number one
whilst seven of the clashes were bagged by his British age-fellow who is looking to close down the gap from the top rank.
Commenting about the on court rivalry and off court friendship, Djokovic stated, “We practice with each other very often, whenever we can. We are big rivals as well, but also very fair to each other. It is a very friendly relationship. I'm
very glad to keep that relationship with Andy, somebody that I've known for a very long time.”
He further added, “Playing Andy is always a big challenge. He has had lots of success in London, playing in front of his crowd with big support. When I'm playing Andy I need to be ready for long rallies and a physically demanding
match. We know a lot about each other. I'm sure we are going to come up with some really good tennis.”
Considering the ranking, Djokovic should win the encounter. However, the match is being played at O2 arena in London and the entire crowd will be backing the number one Briton that helped him to recover from the early damage caused
by Berdych in the first encounter. The environment definitely has an impact on the clash and the Serb will have to battle extremely hardly to be successful.
In the current season, six battles have been contested between the two athletes and they shared the results. It started in the Australian Open at Melbourne where the top seed Serb edged the Briton deep in five sets to book a berth
in the grand finale. Murray bounced back to answer Djokovic in Dubai Duty Free Championships, however, failed to repeat the heroics in the final at Miami. Djokovic lost in Olympics and US Open but registered an emphatic turnaround in the final of the Shanghai
Rolex Masters to keep it even-steven.
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