Five key points from Andy Murray's victory over Novak Djokovic

21 November 2016 12:46

Andy Murray clinched the year-end number one ranking and the ATP World Tour Finals trophy with a 6-3 6-4 victory over Novak Djokovic.

It was the Scot's 11th win in 35th meetings with his former junior rival and gave him a ninth title of a remarkable season.

Here, Press Association Sport looks at the key points of the match:

3-2 - After both men had held their opening service games comfortably, Murray upped the pressure on the Djokovic serve in the sixth game of the match. It became clear the Serbian was not hitting the ball with anything like the authority he had in his semi-final against Kei Nishikori. He threw in one of the worst misses of his career, shanking a smash from on top of the net over the baseline. Murray could not take either of two break points, but the pattern was set.

4-3 - Two games later, Murray claimed the first break of the match. It had been expected that the Scot would be showing signs of fatigue after his epic victory over Milos Raonic in the semi-final, but he was not being dragged into long rallies and was the player controlling the points. He was rewarded for his aggression with a forehand into the corner that Djokovic could only scramble back into the net.

6-3 1-0 - Having taken the opening set, Murray needed to keep his foot on the pedal and accentuate the doubts in Djokovic's mind. He did that with another break of serve at the start of the second set, again largely thanks to errors from his opponent.

6-3 4-1 - By now the momentum had swung so far in Murray's direction that it was tough to see how Djokovic could reverse that. The four-time defending champion looked like he felt the same as more mistakes gave Murray a double break and a clear sight of the finishing line.

6-3 4-3 - Djokovic finally roused himself, cutting out the errors and putting more pressure on Murray, and he was rewarded with a first break of the Scot's serve. When he then held his own comfortably, a comeback seemed possible, particularly when Murray lost the first point of his next service game. But he did not allow doubts to creep in and ultimately held comfortably for 5-3, setting the stage for his moment of victory two games later.

Source: PA