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World No. 1 Novak Djokovic captured his fifth Grand Slam championship title as he defeated No. 2-ranked Rafael Nadal 5-7, 6-4, 6-2, 6-7(5), 7-5 in an epic final contest at the Australian Open on Sunday night in Melbourne.

At five hours and 53 minutes, it was the longest-ever match at the Australian Open and the longest men’s Grand Slam final on record, surpassing the previous record of four hours and 54 minutes when Mats Wilander defeated Ivan Lendl at the 1988 US Open.

In his acceptance speech, Djokovic said, “Rafa, you’re one of the best players ever, one of the most respected players on tour. We made history tonight; unfortunately there couldn’t be two winners tonight. I wish you all the best for this season and I hope that we will have many more finals like this.”

It was the third successive Grand Slam final that Djokovic and Nadal have contested, and saw the Serb extend his winning streak over Nadal to seven straight matches. The pair clashed in six finals last season, with Djokovic prevailing in each one, including at Wimbledon and the US Open.

When asked whether it was the greatest win of his career, Djokovic said, “I think [it] comes out on the top because, just the fact, that we played almost six hours is incredible. I’m very proud just to be part of this history, part of the elite players that have won this tournament several times. I was very flattered to be playing in front of Rod Laver, in front of the all time greats, and in front of 15,000 people that stayed until 1:30 a.m.”

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The 24 year old Serb won his first major title at the Australian Open in 2008, defeating Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, and reclaimed the trophy at Melbourne Park last year with victory over Andy Murray. Last year’s victory proved to be the catalyst for one of the greatest seasons tennis has ever seen. The Serb went on to compile a 70-6 match record, taking in a career-best 10 titles, and finished as the year-end World No. 1 in the South African Airways ATP Rankings.

In a pulsating contest on Rod Laver Arena, Djokovic rallied from a 2-4 deficit in the fifth set, to fight back and claim a dramatic victory. He continued to narrow the gap in his FedEx ATP Head2Head series with the Spaniard to 14-16. Nadal had never previously lost a Grand Slam final after winning the first set.

Read: How The Final Was Won

Djokovic now has a 5-2 record in Grand Slam finals, with his two defeats coming against Roger Federer in the 2007 US Open final and against Nadal in the 2010 US Open final. He is just the fifth man in the Open Era to win three successive Grand Slam titles, joining Pete Sampras, Rod Laver, Federer and Nadal.

The Belgrade native had come through a marathon semi-final clash at Melbourne Park on Friday night, edging Andy Murray 7-5 in the fifth set after four hours and 50 minutes to notch his 400th tour-level win. He improved to a 32-5 event record.

The 25-year-old Nadal was bidding to win his 11th major title and his second trophy at the Australian Open, having beaten Federer in the 2009 final. He has also won a record-equalling six Roland Garros trophies, two Wimbledon crowns, and completed the career Grand Slam when he defeated Djokovic in the 2010 US Open final.

The Mallorcan, who had defeated his long-time rival Federer in four sets in the semi-finals on Thursday night, dropped to a 10-5 mark in major finals.

“Good morning everybody,” joked Nadal as he started his runner-up speech at 1:50am. “Congratulations to Novak and his team, they deserve it, they are doing something fantastic, so congratulations. To start the season here and play this fantastic match against Novak is, I believe, a fantastic start.”

In his post-match press conference, Nadal admitted, “I’m tired. Physically [it] was the toughest match I ever played. I think we played a great tennis match. It was, I think, a very good show. I enjoyed being part of this event and this match.

“I wanted to win, but I am happy about how I did. I had my chances against the best player in the world today. I played one against one. I didn’t play at lower level than him for a long time, so that’s a very positive thing for me. I am very happy about my mentality tonight.

“Yes, I had big chance for 5-2 [in the fifth set]. I had that easy passing shot with the backhand. I miss it, yes, but I was 4-3, 0/40 in the fourth [set], too. Anything can happen when the match is there.”

Roger Federer has become the first player to win six titles at the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals. The fourth-seeded Swiss won his 70th tour-level trophy in his 100th final on Sunday after he defeated sixth seed Jo-Wilfried Tsonga of France 6-3, 6-7(6), 6-3, in two hours and 19 minutes, to become the oldest titlist at the year-end championship.

The 30-year-old Federer, who won all five matches he played this week, at The O2 in London, picked up a cheque for $1,630,000 and 1,500 South African Airways ATP Rankings points. He was also year-end champion in 2003-04, 2006-07 and 2010. The victory also tied Federer with Ivan Lendl‘s wins record at the tournament. Lendl compiled a 39-10 mark, with five titles, while Federer is now 39-7.

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“It feels very special, indeed,” admitted Federer, who has a 17-match winning streak. “I’ve been trying to sort of block it out for the entire tournament, the entire time I’ve been here in London.  I just tried to recuperate from Basel and Paris and hopefully get through the round robin stages. So now it’s finally sort of reality that I’ve been able to win six [Barclays ATP] World Tour Finals. It’s an amazing feeling. I know it’s one of my greatest accomplishments.”

It was Federer’s third straight indoor trophy, after title runs at the Swiss Indoors Basel (d. Nishikori) and the BNP Paribas Masters in Paris (d. Tsonga) two weeks ago. He also beat Tsonga last Sunday in Group B round-robin play and finishes the year unbeaten indoors with a 16-0 mark.

“This definitely is an amazing finish again to the season,” said Federer, who finishes in the year-end Top 3 of the South African Airways ATP Rankings for a ninth straight season. “I’ve never finished so strong.”

Federer, who had won the first set in his six previous year-end finals, turned up the heat on Tsonga at 4-3, when he hit three straight backhand winners to give his French opponent a headache at 0/40. Federer, who had looked second-best for much of the first set, broke serve and ultimately clinched the set in 35 minutes, despite the best efforts of Tsonga to break.

On Federer’s first set point at advantage, Tsonga drew Federer to the net before ripping a backhand winner down the line. Federer then hit a forehand approach winner and on his second set point chance, Tsonga made a backhand error under pressure. Federer hit nine winners to Tsonga’s 12, but took his chance in the eighth game. Tsonga, lost just five points on serve and his 12 winners, but came out second best.

Tsonga almost buckled under the pressure at 1-1 in the second set, after he hit two double faults, but he managed to salvage the game from 15/40. Two games later, however, Federer set up one more break point opportunity. Taking advantage of a second serve at 30/40, Federer ran around his backhand to lash a forehand winner down the line for a 3-2 lead.

Federer served for the title at 5-4, but a lapse in concentration saw him face three break points at 0/40. He saved two when Tsonga hit a backhand return long and a forehand into the net, but he could not win the third as Tsonga attacked the net off a forehand to strike a smash winner. In the next game, Tsonga saved one break with a powerful forehand approach, which Federer could not scramble back. The set was decided on a tie-break.

Read DEUCE Magazine – Federer: Renaissance Man

Federer took a 4-2 lead in the tie-break courtesy of a forehand volley, after both players made edgy starts. He then hit a drive volley winner for a three-point cushion. But Tsonga came back by winning three straight points, until Federer’s sixth ace of the match took him to his first match point chance at 6-5. Tsonga kept his nerve and fired a mid-court forehand for a winner, then hit an unreturned serve for his first set point opportunity at 7-6. Tsonga jumped all over Federer’s second serve, hammering a forehand return to the Swiss’ feet. Tsonga hit 18 winners in the set and won 10 of his 15 net points.

The quality of tennis in the deciding set improved with every game. Tsonga came through hold for 3-3, with his never-say-die brand of tennis, when he hit three forehand winners, while Federer continued to clinch routine service holds.

The pressure, of serving second in the set, looked to weigh heavily on Tsonga’s shoulders at 3-4. He fought back from 0/30 with three straight points, but then committed two forehand errors to gift Federer a break point opportunity. Tsonga saved it by following a forehand to the net and hitting a volley winner. Two points later, facing break point again, he came to the net and executed a perfect back cross-court angle that left Federer motionless. Federer made it third time lucky for a 5-3 lead, when Tsonga over-balanced while running for a forehand that he hit wide.

Federer closed out his 64th match win of the season (64-12 overall) with a hold to love, finishing with a forehand volley winner, and leapt in the air in celebration. He has a 6-1 record in year-end finals, losing only to David Nalbandian in the 2005 title match.

“I thought I played well,” said Federer. “Look, I thought Jo played well. Could I have won it easier? I guess. I had it in my hands. I had a chance to go a double break in the second [set]. I had chances to serve it out. I had chances in the tie-breaker. Yeah, it wasn’t meant to be. I had to go through the third set, which was tough, but eventually I made it, which felt probably even better going through three sets. The relief was amazing. The joy, of course, as you can imagine, was great.”

Read DEUCE Magazine – Tsonga: The Pugilist

Tsonga, 26, was attempting to become the first Frenchman to win the title. He hit 42 aces this week and has struck an ATP World Tour season-best 825 aces, ahead of John Isner’s 811. Tsonga received prize money of $740,000 and 800 points as runner-up.

“Today I fought all I can,” said Tsonga. “I’m just happy tonight because I had a good week. Of course, to win is better but I gave everything. Tonight I can look [at] myself in the mirror and say, ‘Yeah, you fought enough.’

“They [the crowd] supported me a lot. “It was really fair from the English crowd. He was better than me in the first set. Also in the second set. But I took the first set point in the tie-break.”

Tsonga finished the season with a 55-24 match record (27-17 in tie-breaks). He won two ATP World Tour titles at the Moselle Open in Metz (d. Ljubicic) and the Erste Bank Open in Vienna (d. del Potro). The Frenchman was also runner-up at the ABN AMRO World Tennis Tournament in Rotterdam (l. to Soderling), the AEGON Championships at The Queen’s Club (l. to Murray) and the Rogers Cup in Montreal (l. to Djokovic).

The evening final was watched by the Mayor of London Boris Johnson and Real Madrid footballer Cristiano Ronaldo, among other well known names, in a capacity 17,500-strong crowd.

800-MATCH WINS CLUB – Federer is now in fifth place on the Open Era list (since 1968) for most match wins, having overtaken his childhood idol Stefan Edberg (806) with victory over Tsonga on Sunday.

Third seeds Max Mirnyi and Daniel Nestor defeated eighth seeds Mariusz Fyrstenberg and Marcin Matkowski 7-5, 6-3 on Sunday to clinch the doubles title at the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals. They won 31 of 33 first service points to lift their fourth title of the year.

Mirnyi and Nestor went undefeated throughout the elite circuit finale, at The O2 in London, and share a cheque for $287,500. Nestor, 39, lifts his fourth year-end title in five years, having received silverware in 2007 (w/Knowles), 2008 and 2010 (w/Zimonjic). The 34-year-old Mirnyi won the 2006 title (w/Bjorkman).

“We feel great to have been able to win the tournament,” said Mirnyi. “We’re very excited to have done it without losing a match. We felt that we built confidence throughout the week because we escaped a few very close matches early on in the tournament. Today, towards the end of the match, I felt we both played pretty good.”

Nestor, who was appearing in his sixth year-end final, admitted, “Six weeks ago, if you would have asked me if we would have won this, I would have been surprised. But the way we’ve been playing in the fall, I wouldn’t say surprised.  It’s just one of those things.”

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Watch Exclusive Interviews: Mirnyi-Nestor | Fyrstenberg-Matkowski

The first three games were decided on sudden death deuces. Mirnyi was broken to 30 in the third game, when Matkowski hit a backhand return straight down the middle to dissect Mirnyi and Nestor. But Fyrstenberg could not confirm the break, losing his serve to 15, as Nestor hit a clever crosscourt forehand volley to level at 2-2. Matkowski was almost broken in the sixth game, squandering a 40/15 lead, before Fyrstenberg poached at the net on another game-deciding point.

As the set edged closer to a tie-break, Mirnyi and Nestor raised their games. At 5-6, they overpowered Fyrstenberg and earned two set point opportunities. Mirnyi fired a forehand winner at Fyrstenberg’s feet to wrap up the 48-minute opener. Mirnyi and Nestor got 89 per cent of their first serves into play, winning 16 of 18 first service points. They converted two of six break point chances.

In the second set, neither team earned a break point opportunity through the first five games. Matkowski hit two double faults at 2-3 to put the Poles under pressure at 30/30. Mirnyi then hit a forehand winner down the line to end a long rally, which was played out at the net. Nestor took control on the break point for a 4-2 lead. One break proved to be enough, as Nestor held for love to clinch victory in 80 minutes when Mirnyi hit a smash winner.

Mirnyi and Nestor, who reunited in 2011 after a brief partnership 11 years ago, end the season with a 47-19 match record, which includes four titles from eight finals. They lifted the Roland Garros trophy (d. Cabal-Schwank) in June.

Fyrstenberg and Matkowski, known as the ‘Polish Power’, finish the year with a 22-28 match record, highlighted by a run to the US Open final (l. to Melzer-Petzschner) in September. The duo will feature in the January issue of the ATP’s DEUCE Magazine.

The only other Polish player ever to make a final at the year-end tournament - singles or doubles - was Wojtek Fibak (singles runner-up in 1976, doubles runner-up in 1978 and 1979).

The 16-time Grand Slam champion had never previously reached the Paris final but gave the sixth-seeded Frenchman limited opportunities after saving two break points in his opening service game.

“I’m just ecstatic to have played so well this week,” Federer said. “I have had many attempts to win Paris and for some reason I wasn’t able to. It’s a special victory.”

 

Roger Federer had never previously reached the final of the Paris Masters, but gave Jo-Wilfried Tsonga little chance after saving two break points in his opening service game.

The former No. 1 will end the season without a Grand Slam title for the first time since 2002, and his ranking has dropped to No. 4. But Federer has bounced back of late, winning the Swiss Indoors last week before arriving in Paris.

“I have had some really tough losses this year, but I kept believing the year wasn’t over,” said Federer. “I’m not playing to prove anything to anybody. I play for myself, I play for Switzerland (and) just to enjoy myself.”

Federer took six weeks off after the Davis Cup playoff against Australia in mid-September and feels it paid off.

“I always plan in the long term,” Federer said. “I know how grueling it is out there. Even I need my time away.”

His 18th Masters title puts him one ahead of Andre Agassi and one behind all-time leader Rafael Nadal. The 30-year-old heads into the eight-man ATP World Tour Finals in London next week on a 12-match winning streak.

“I can still finish this year on a high,” he said. “Now I have a massive highlight coming up in a week’s time.”

It was his third title of the season and his only Masters. Top-ranked Novak Djokovic has won five Masters this year, No. 3 Andy Murray two and the second-ranked Nadal one.

But with Djokovic troubled by a nagging shoulder injury, Federer will be confident of defending his title in London.

Tsonga improved his serve in the second set, but Federer was simply too strong in the tiebreaker, taking victory on his third match point when Tsonga’s return landed out.

“I felt good today but Roger was just better than me today,” Tsonga said. “I knew I needed to play a great match if wanted to win today and I was not able to.”

Tsonga won the tournament in 2008 but was let down by too many unforced errors on his forehand as he tried to find a way to pressure Federer in their sixth meeting this year.

“I just wish I could have competed more,” said Tsonga, who this year beat Federer in the quarterfinals at Wimbledon, but lost at the same stage to the Swiss star at the U.S. Open. Overall, Federer now leads Tsonga 6-3.

Federer took only 80 minutes to beat Tomas Berdych in straight sets in Saturday’s semifinals, while Tsonga labored for three hours and saved three match points before getting the better of unseeded American John Isner.

Federer’s sharpness showed as he mercilessly attacked Tsonga’s weak second serve in the first set. He opened a 4-0 lead after Tsonga, visibly frustrated over too many loose forehands, double-faulted.

The opening set lasted only 30 minutes, Federer clinching it with a whipped winner into the open court after Tsonga returned a strong second serve to Federer’s forehand.

“On this kind of surface, Roger has always been among the best players,” Tsonga said.

Tsonga had to raise his game in the second set or risk a thrashing, and he dug out a crosscourt winner with a booming forehand in the fourth game to set up break point. With Federer on second serve, Tsonga missed his chance when his hurried forehand went out.

With Federer’s seemingly impregnable serve dipping for the first time in the match, the Frenchman missed another opportunity at 30-40 in the eighth game when he sent a forehand long.

Federer hardly had to dig deep, but he did thrill the crowd at the Bercy arena with one moment of brilliance in the next game.

A closely contested rally saw Tsonga send Federer scampering to the back of the court to retrieve a lob. Federer waited for the ball to sit up nicely, spun around and hit a devastating backhand pass without even looking to see where Tsonga was.

Tsonga appeared nervous in the tiebreaker, netting a forehand long and a backhand into the net — either side of Federer’s forehand winner and service winner — to trail 0-4.

Federer raced to a 6-1 lead, and though Tsonga saved two match points with a neat drop shot and a service winner, it was a brief reprieve from an inevitable ending.

Having won the Swiss indoors and Paris Masters back-to-back, taking his total career wins to 802, Federer heads to London in fine form.

Kvitova Wins Istanbul, Completes Dream Year

ISTANBUL, Turkey – In front of a packed crowd of over 13,000, Petra Kvitova capped an absolute breakthrough year at the Sinan Erdem Dome on Sunday night, recording an electric 75 46 63 victory over Victoria Azarenka to conquer the TEB BNP Paribas WTA Championships and rise to No.2 in the world.

Maybe drawing confidence from winning her last three meetings with Azarenka, the first 30 minutes of the match were all Kvitova, as she stormed out to a 5-0 lead and seemed well on her way to extending that streak. Azarenka was able to swing the momentum, winning the next five games; although she would still lose that first set, she kept that momentum and pocketed the second set.

“At 5-0 down you just try to believe and keep fighting, point by point,” Azarenka said. “At 5-all I still had the same spirit and the same belief to keep going.”

Azarenka’s momentum didn’t end there. She brought up triple break point as Kvitova served in the first game of the decider, eventually holding a fourth break point later in the game – but Kvitova hung tough at what was perhaps the most critical time of the match, holding that service game then getting the only break of the set in the next game. The two held the rest of the way until Kvitova hit a fierce crosscourt forehand pass that drew one last Azarenka error.

“It was unbelievable tennis,” Kvitova said in her on-court interview right after the match. “We were both really fighting. Every game and every set was very close. Maybe I played better on the important points in the match. We both played some of our best here in Istanbul today – it was a final, so why not!”

“It’s hard to lose, but I’m glad I lost to such a champion who deserved to win,” Azarenka said. “Petra was amazing today. She really did a great job.”

Sunday’s atmosphere was electric, with 13,676 fans cheering Kvitova and Azarenka on throughout their two-hour, 28-minute final. “I gave it my all today,” Azarenka declared. “The crowd kept me fighting all the way through. They were amazing today and all week. I have no words to describe it.”

Not only does Kvitova move to No.2 in the rankings now – the winner of this final would be No.2, the runner-up No.3 – but she has equalled No.1-ranked Caroline Wozniacki‘s WTA-leading six titles for the season, having captured titles at Brisbane, Paris [Indoors], Madrid, Wimbledon, Linz and now Istanbul.

Kvitova began the season outside the Top 30 and is now just one spot away from the top ranking. “When I started this season I didn’t have any goals. I just wanted to improve my game,” she said. “But first Wimbledon, and now the year-end Championships and getting to No.2 in the world, it’s just a dream.”

The 21-year-old Czech is just the third player in the history of the event to win it in her first year, after Serena Williams (2001) and Maria Sharapova (2004).

Both women shone in their round robin groups earlier in the week, Kvitova going 3-0 with straight set wins over Vera Zvonareva, Wozniacki and Agnieszka Radwanska, Azarenka going 2-1 with wins over Li Na and Sam Stosur but losing to Marion Bartoli, an alternate replacing an injured Sharapova. In the semis, Kvitova beat Stosur, 57 63 63, while Azarenka beat Zvonareva, 62 63.

What’s next for Azarenka? “Definitely three weeks no tennis. I’m going to have fun. I’m going to a Rihanna concert in Zürich, which I’m really, really excited about. And I don’t know what else. I just really want to enjoy my time off.”

Kvitova actually hasn’t wrapped up her season just yet – she leads the Czech Republic against Russia in the Fed Cup final next weekend.

Vienna, Austria

© e|motion/zolles.comTsonga won his second title of the year Sunday in Vienna.

Jo-Wilfried Tsonga’s prospects of qualifying for the Barclays ATP World Tour Finals were boosted on Sunday after the Frenchman notched his first victory against Juan Martin del Potro, defeating the Argentine 6-7(5), 6-3, 6-4 to win the Erste Bank Open in Vienna. With the win, Tsonga moves past Mardy Fish to No. 7 in the South African Airways 2011 ATP Year-To-Date Rankings.

“I will try to take all the pressure off myself. I just want to play every tournament and enjoy it,” stated Tsonga. “I will try to play my best tennis and not think about it the next two weeks, so we’ll see. But of course I hope I will get there.”

Neither the top-seeded Tsonga or second seed del Potro were able to make an impact on return in the first set, each failing to convert three break point opportunities, and that carried through to the tie-break, where del Potro edged the Frenchman to take a one set lead.

Del Potro looked to be in control of the match after converting the first break of serve to lead 2-1 in the second set, but Tsonga reeled off four straight games, and shortly evened the encounter at one set apiece. “I was 2-1 up on serve and played a bad service game,” said del Potro. “He then started to play much better and more aggressive. He served unbelievable. It was a different match between the first set and that moment, and then the rest of the match.”

In the final set, Tsonga stepped up on serve, firing nine of his 25 aces to win 80 percent of his service points. He broke the Argentine in the seventh game and closed out the final with a love service game, taking the hard-fought clash in two hours and 28 minutes.

“I just tried to stay focused and strong in the head. I broke him back and came back in this final, and finally I did it,” said Tsonga. “It was very special because at the end there was the retirement of Thomas Muster, and Goran Ivanisevic, one of  my favourite players, was there. It was a great final and it’s going to stay in my memories.”

Tsonga ended a three-match losing streak to del Potro and claimed his second title in 2011 after beginning the fall indoor season by lifting the trophy in Metz (d. Ljubicic). The World No. 9 also finished runner-up in Rotterdam (l. to Soderling) and London / Queen’s Club (l. to Murray).

Del Potro was looking to win his third title of the year after triumphs in Delray Beach (d. Tipsarevic) and Estoril (d. Verdasco). With his result this week, del Potro jumps to 11th place in the chase to London with two tournaments left to go. “I’m sad because I lost but it was a good tournament for me,” del Potro said. “Jo played much better in the important moments and took his opportunities. He’s difficult to play because he’s very fast and has a good forehand.”

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