Djokovic Beats Nadal, Wins Tour Finals

Novak Djokovic capped an amazing fall where he won everything he entered, with yet another title at the World Tour Finals in London.  He took down the world no. 1 Rafael Nadal in straight sets 6-3 6-4. He went 22-0 after the US Open and will only go into Australia as the 3-time defending Aussie Open champ.  Nadal, despite losing in the final, finishes one of his better campaigns, a 71-6 effort despite not playing in Australia.  He leads Djokovic in the year end rankings by 920 points and that lead will grow in Australia.  I would expect many more Nadal/Djokovic clashes in 2014.

-Djokovic wins his 41st career title, 7th of 2013 (2nd only to Nadal), last '13 Paris
-It is his 3rd win at the Tour Finals ('08,'12)
-He hasn't lost at the event since '11, when he didn't make it out of the round robin with losses to Ferrer and Tipsarevic at the end of his amazing 2011 season

The two Swiss were the semifinal losers, both going 2-1 in their groups, Federer defeated Del Potro in 3 sets, coming from behind in each set 4-6 7-6 7-5 and Wawrinka survived Berdych and Ferrer, both in 3 sets.

It was a disappointing tournament for Ferrer, who won only 1 set (against Wawrinka) and Gasquet who had a tough draw but won sets from Djokovic and Del Potro.  Djokovic won his group without a loss despite losing a set in each match.  We saw life from Federer, who rallied to beat Del Potro, took a set from Djokovic, and then was competitive against Nadal, losing 7-5 6-3.  He moves past Berdych to no. 6 in the world.  We will see if he can bounce back at all in 2014 or if he is no longer competitive against the very top players.

And thus ends 2013, save for Davis Cup, which I'll get to in a couple days.  It was the year for Djokovic at both ends, Nadal in the middle, and Murray's moment at Wimbledon.