Serbia’s Djokovic makes an immense statement in his bid to rule men’s tennis again with a 6-3, 5-7, 6-4 victory
over Andy Murray, the man who deposed him as world number one, in a stirring Qatar ExxonMobil Open final.

Are you not entertained! That’s what one can imagine both the finalists of the Qatar ExxonMobil Open yelling at the spectators after producing a blockbuster of a performance.
When the tournament began, all the talk was about a dream final between Andy Murray and Novak Djokovic. But nobody could have imagined the high-octane gladiator-like battle both these players put up yesterday. The tussle that ended just six minutes short of three hours, swung one way and then the other and then the other way back again for Djokovic to claim a memorable 6-3, 5-7, 6-4 victory.
It was a fitting finale to the 25th anniversary of the tournament here at the Khalifa International Tennis Complex. This was the first time that the world No. 1 and 2 were playing in a final here in Doha. Djokovic was the defending champion but he had lost his number one ranking to Murray last year and was keen to send a message to his rival.
Which he did, with an emphatic performance. But with a match that ran so close, Murray shouldn’t feel disappointed. In fact, this was a rare occasion, if not the only one, where one saw Murray smile after the match, when shaking hands with Djokovic. “It is definitely one of the best ways to start the New Year,” said Djokovic after his memorable win.
During his semi-final against Fernando Verdasco, Djokovic had saved five match points to script a remarkable comeback. Yesterday, Murray managed to save three match points and it looked like Djokovic would be given a taste of his own medicine but thankfully for the Serb, history didn’t repeat itself.
“After saving five match points and winning the semi-final and when I had three match points in the second set and Murray turned it around, I thought, I hoped, it was not payback time,” said Djokovic.
“Andy was close. All the way to the last shot you never know with Andy. This is no strange occurrence for the both of us to play three sets for three hours. It was a very physical battle and both of us are going to need a little bit of time to recover from that and get ready for Melbourne,” he added.
Murray came very close to claiming the trophy himself and he chose to take the positives from this battle.
“It’s a tough one to lose but it’s a great way to start the New Year. We played a high level of tennis. Some of the points were physically tough but I could not have asked for a better start the season, playing like that. I am looking forward to the next few weeks,” said the Brit.
When the match began, it immediately sent off signals that this was going to be an epic contest. The rallies were long, right from the first game and both players were hitting well. In fact, the first game itself lasted five minutes and 38 seconds. That set the tone for the match. Djokovic closed out the first set after breaking Murray in the eighth game but not before getting a warning from the chair umpire for hitting a ball into the stands. The world No. 2 won 13 of the last 16 points to snuff out Murray’s challenge.
In the second set, Djokovic broke Murray in the seventh game and looked on course to claim the set and the match. But despite getting three match points, Djokovic couldn’t close out the match and Murray broke back and went on to win the second set and draw level. The Serb was rattled by the grit shown by Murray and even suffered a points penalty for smashing the racquet on the court.
The momentum had swung towards Murray but in the third set, the world No. 1 lost his serve in the seventh game, giving Djokovic a 3-4 lead. This time too, with the Serb serving for the match, Murray got a two-point advantage. But Djokovic didn’t let this opportunity go waste and sealed victory on his fourth match point.
“This win means to a lot to me. In the last three months of 2016, I didn’t play that consistent. And to start the year against a win against the No. 1 in world and my biggest rival is a dream start to 2017,” said Djokovic.
The world No. 2 was the defending champion and said that the Falcon Trophy inspired him to do well in Doha. “I was saying during the closing ceremony last year that my grandfather, who passed away a few years ago, used to call me a falcon. And so the falcon is one of my favourite birds. I guess that’s something that keeps me going, keeps me motivated to play well in Qatar,” he said. All in all, one couldn’t have asked for a better way to celebrate the 25th anniversary of this iconic event.



Related Story