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War of words as Djokovic shows up frustrated Federer

Novak Djokovic has shown up Roger Federer as debate rages over supposed tricky conditions on the court inside London’s O2 Arena at the ATP Finals.

The Wimbledon and US Open champion made an impressive start to his campaign for another title by dismissing John Isner 6-4 6-3.

Federer and Alexander Zverev described conditions as challenging following their error-strewn opening matches at the season-ending tournament.

“I mean, look, I think (the court) plays different or it’s definitely slower than I think the last three tournaments that I’ve played,” Federer told reporters after losing to Kei Nishikori in straight sets.

“So I think everybody’s making a minor adjustment, you know. So am I. I’ve been feeling, I mean, fine. It’s just that practice has been a bit all over the place.

“Practised in Queen’s, practised on the outside courts here, then centre as well. So it’s not always exactly the same conditions.”

Novak Djokovic has shown up Roger Federer with a first-up win over John Isner in London. Pic: Getty
Novak Djokovic has shown up Roger Federer with a first-up win over John Isner in London. Pic: Getty

Curiously, measurements shared by TennisTV show the London court as a similar speed to the recent Paris Masters and August’s Cincinnati Masters.

The Basel tournament won by Federer earlier this month is believed to be in a range close to Paris and London.

Zverev, while noting after his win over Marin Cilic that the court is “weird” but “pretty quick”, sent a pointed comment towards Federer’s preferences at age 37.

“Roger wants to play on the fastest court possible, I guess,” the German said.

But where Federer piled up more than 30 unforced errors, Djokovic made just six and dropped only six points on his serve.

“My results here have been pretty good in the last 10 years, so I can’t complain too much,” the Serb said.

“It takes a little bit of time really to get yourself adjusted to the surface because the surface is a good surface.”

A day after a ceremony to mark ending the season as world No.1, Djokovic underlined his status by nullifying Isner’s usually destructive serve.

Isner applied himself admirably but barely avoided being broken more than once in the first set, and was broken twice more in the second set.

The one break Djokovic converted in the first set, at 2-2, was a cross-court forehand return winner which stranded Isner.

At 3-3, 15-30 in the second set, Isner sent down a second serve at 126 mph (203 kph). Djokovic sent it straight back at his feet and a shocked Isner hit his backhand long to concede two more break points.

A forehand error from Isner confirmed the break, and the end of the contest. The merciless Djokovic held serve before breaking Isner once more with an inch-perfect backhand passing shot on match point.

Earlier, Zverev had come from a break down in both sets to defeat Cilic 7-6 (7-5) 7-6 (7-1).

Facing each other in their opening match for a second straight year, Zverev produced the slightly steadier tennis in an error-strewn contest to extend his record against Cilic to 2-0 at the O2 Arena and 6-1 overall.

Cilic, who made 46 unforced errors, dropped to 1-9 across his four appearances at the tournament.

“The win, that’s the most important thing,” said Zverev, who failed to advance from the round-robin stage on his debut last year.

with AP